Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
Ginny Emrich was looking for a modest increase in space to transform her hair salon and spa business into Spa Bella Casa, which offers spa services exclusively. The city of Minneapolis had blocked her expansion at the existing location near 50th Street and France Avenue.
“We were looking for 10,000 square feet,” she told her real estate broker. “He showed us this. It was 34,000. We actually fell in love with the building. We’re glad that we bought it.”
Spa Bella Casa opened at 7615 Metro Blvd. in Edina in November, after an extensive renovation that features 10 treatment rooms and room for more, up from six at the old place. “Our two couples’ rooms are booked every weekend for a month out. We’re growing faster than I thought we would,” she says.
Emrich, who’s the CEO, says she and her business partner opened their first salon in 1996, with spa services on the top floor as a secondary idea. “The spa business just started overtaking the salon” in the last few years, she says, and the patrons don’t cross over. “Your hair client is not your spa client and your spa client is not your hair client,” she says.
To decide on the large expansion, she says she did her due diligence, going over the books to see how much business she was turning away. She analyzed how much each treatment room would generate in revenue, based on experience, by week, by month and by year.
Then she emphasized location. “Location is prime. There were several buildings that I looked at that I thought would be hard to find, and parking is very important. There are a few businesses in Edina that have taken over some prime space and there’s absolutely no parking. How can you open up a restaurant with no parking?”
She says she’s backed by a financier whom she won’t name, an arrangement that reduces the risk of the expansion. “We have private financing. We have it free and clear,” Emrich says about her new building. “I don’t discuss the financing.”
Ginny Emrich, Spa Bella Casa: 612.920.4050; www.spabellacasa.com
