Why did Massage Specialists Boulder close?

Well, I was an Independent Contractor with MassageSpecialists.com in Boulder, Colorado from June 2012 to September 7, 2022, so I do have an inside perspective.

After 25 years, Massage Specialists, a health and wellness center specializing in not only Massage Therapy, but Rolfing, Acupuncture, and Chiropractic care in Boulder, Colorado closed because it couldn’t recover financially from the Pandemic fast enough. Massage Therapy as well as other in-person services such as Estheticians were hit hard by the Pandemic, having to have an extremely flexible cancellation policy if anyone tested positive for Covid-19, and the public fears of exposure kept clients away. This is one of the reasons, but there were other factors at play as well.

The Loss of Several Long Term Massage Therapists

The average career of a Massage Therapist is between 5-8 years. At Massage Specialists Boulder Colorado, the average years in practice were much higher closer to 15 – 20 years. A common reason for therapists leaving the profession is the physical wear and tear on the body plus just plain burnout.

As for myself, in August 2019, I started cutting days to begin moving into my private practice. I was working six days a week at Massage Specialists, in Boulder Colorado. I could do up to 30 hours a week, which I don’t recommend for any massage therapist; it takes a very high level of self-care. But my yearly hours were around 1400 for several years running and thus I was responsible for a good portion of the operational costs of the clinic.

In April 2021, I dropped my hours at Massage Specialists Boulder to two days per week, and then later to one day. I moved my office out of my home and restarted my transition into my private practice that I began Fall of 2019.

After the closure, March—May 2020, due to the pandemic. Clients came back to the practice very slowly.

One massage therapist took an extended sabbatical that was about a year-long, to take care of family in another state; she used to work 5 days a week.

Another therapist, began working again, but had taken a different critical job during the closure and realized that she enjoyed that type of work more than massage. She was already experiencing burn-out before the shutdown and had been working 5-6 days a week, with a full practice, carrying at least 10% of the operational cost of the clinic.

Then, a third 5 day a week therapist left to establish her own private practice as she moved out of Boulder.

All total Massage Specialists lost a significant income to massage therapists reducing hours, taking extended sabbaticals because of Covid-19, and just plain moving on.

The Profit Margin for Massage Therapy Clinics

The operational costs for massage therapy clinics are rather high if you pay for the front desk and other support staff. Not to mention, all the other expenses incurred such as the physical location, online presence, scheduling software, etcetera.

All massage therapists at Massage Specialists Boulder were contractors. MassageSpecialists.com employed only the front desk staff, accountant, CEO, and owner, etcetera. This contractor versus an employee is a hot debate in massage therapists’ circles as the legality of it from an IRS standpoint. I am not going to get into this here.

Massage Specialists viewed themselves as assisting massage therapists in practice management versus as an employer. Massage therapists’ rates were determined by a variety of factors but most importantly demand, and Massage Specialists took a percentage of this rate for providing this service.

The profit-to-expense ratio was not very high, and Massage Specialists needed to have a certain level of filled rooms to make a profit.

Now when several therapists leave or reduce hours at a massage clinic, and they each have a significant following; it can take a little while to find another massage therapist at the same clinic for a client, whose style of work they enjoy and get the results they are looking for.

Massage therapists that built their practice with MassageSpecialists.com were not allowed to take their clients with them when they transitioned out of the practice. They had to pay a certain amount of money for each client that they took.

So, with clients slow to return to in-person services, such as massage, after the closure; and massage therapists leaving the practice making some clients hesitant to try another new massage therapist; the deficit in the operational costs of the clinic was covered mostly by an SBA loan, as the practice rooms were not filled enough.

Owner Leaving Massage Therapy

MassageSpecialists.com was founded by Dirk McCuistion in 1997, a few years after graduating from Boulder College of Massage Therapy in 1995. Originally founded as more of a service provider for Corporate Health, McCuistion pivoted the company in 1999 being one of the first massage therapy clinics to accept online scheduling.

Dirk McCuistion was not only the owner of MassageSpecialists.com, but one of the lead practitioners for a long time. When I began working at Massage Specialists Boulder in June 2012 Dirk McCuistion was not working as a massage therapist at the clinic. He was the President and Executive Director of Boulder College of Massage Therapy.

From January 2012 to December 2013, Dirk McCuistion was trying to save Boulder College of Massage Therapy from its’ inevitable demise. After the second closure of the school in October 2013, the first being June 16, 2013, Dirk returned to being on the clinic schedule.

His return to massage didn’t last long, and he stopped doing massage maybe a year after the closure of Boulder College of Massage Therapy.

He stayed on with MassageSpecialists.com in an advisory capacity as the owner. Dirk McCuistion continued on as a consultant in the massage therapy industry, advising in massage clinic management and educational curriculum development.

The day-to-day operations of MassageSpecialists.com was handled by the CEO Madeline Wessel. 

How the Marshall Fire impacted MassageSpecialists.com

On December 30, 2021, the Marshall Fire fuelled by high winds and an abundance of dry grass destroyed 1,084 buildings. It began by State Highway 93 and Marshall Road about 4.5-5 miles from where our CEO Madeline Wessel lived.

Madeline Wessel, her husband, and their two daughters evacuated with one car, leaving her husband’s police vehicle behind thinking they would return. They, like so many others including several clients of Massage Specialists Boulder, lost everything.

The housing market in Boulder County and the surrounding area is tight. If you didn’t find a place a day or two after the Marshall Fire you were looking at a commute.

To give you an example, I was forced to find a place after losing my apartment on January 10, 2022; 11 days after the Marshall Fire. Due to the lack of places, because of the fire, I was forced to live in Thornton, Colorado, 21 miles from Boulder. I didn’t find a place until mid-March in Boulder.

So, add to the stress of losing your home and all of your belonging, taking care of kids, and negotiating with Insurance. Massage Specialists Boulder CEO Madeline Wessel had another full-time job.

The Final Closure of MassageSpecialists.com

On July 26, 2022 the staff of Massage Specialists Boulder received an email title:

Very Important Notice – Please Read.

The email detailed a little about the decision to permanently close on September 7th, 2022. It was a mutual decision made between Dirk McCuistion, the owner and Madeline Wessel, the CEO, and while the recent pandemic played a part in the closure, it was not the sole reason, and the decision was made to “end on a positive note.”

The management of a massage clinic is a lot of effort, and a great deal of that responsibility fell onto Madeline Wessel’s shoulders as the CEO.

Madeline Wessel, started working as a front desk person while still in college and continued on after college with MassageSpecialists.com in a management role. She had been with Massage Specialists Boulder her entire career.

My personal feelings on why MassageSpecialists.com closed is the time it was taking to recover from the economic effects of the pandemic was a bit too long, plus the stress of managing a massage clinic, and management’s personal lives all played a factor in the closure of Massage Specialists Boulder.

MassageSpecialists.com Email About the Closure:

Date: July 27, 2022

Closing our Doors After 25 Years…We Love You Boulder

Dear Patrons, Customers and Friends,

We are writing to inform you that MassageSpecialists.com will be closing permanently on September 7th, 2022. We want to thank you sincerely for your support over the last 25 years. We have been able to serve this community for so long only because of your continued support and loyalty. It was a good run.

We will be working with our staff to help get them set up for success after our doors close. Most of them will keep practicing massage therapy in the area and we hope you can continue to support them. We will share more information on how to contact and continue to receive services from your preferred practitioners in the coming weeks.

To our active members: We will be canceling all future automatic payments. This means you will not be charged on August 1st. Please schedule over the next 6 weeks to use up any remaining credit you have. If you have used up all your credit, you will still be entitled to your membership discount until we close on September 7th.

If you have a gift card or a block balance:  Please come in over the next 6 weeks to use up any remaining credit you may have.

If you have questions, please reply here or email accounting@massagespecialists.com.

Integrity is of the utmost importance to us, which is why we are giving everyone as much notice as possible so there is time for any outstanding credit to be used.

Thank you for your understanding and support. We will truly miss being a part of this community.