You have a gym membership. How about a massage membership?
Massage Envy, a franchise with locations in Sandy and Draper — and 72 other spots across the United States — hopes its new membership model will spread.
It works like this: Sign up for an annual membership, pay $49 a month and receive one hourlong massage. Additional massages for the month cost $39.
The Sandy clinic at 1838 E. 9400 South is co-owned by Aki Hummel, the former assistant coach for the University of Utah gymnastics team, and Shawn Haycock.
"We've been open a little more than a month, and we've got 90 members," Hummel said. "We're frantically hiring more therapists right now to cover the response we're getting."
Hummel, who retired from the gymnastics program in the spring of 2005 to pursue the franchising opportunities, met Haycock while working at the U.
Haycock was the massage therapist for the Utah gymnastics team as well as the men's basketball team.
"Shawn has extensive knowledge in massage therapy and is highly experienced in Massage Envy's business development," Hummel said. "In fact, he and John Leonesio started Massage Envy together in Arizona, but Shawn stepped away to focus on franchising his own stores in Utah."
Hummel points out Massage Envy is not a day spa.
"They do the pedicures, the manicures, the facials," Hummel said. "We're not competing with those people at all. We're strictly just massage."
Those massages include 18 different modalities, including deep tissue, sports and Swedish massages.
"We're a lot cheaper. We're open seven days a week," Hummel said. "And if you're a member you can go anywhere in the country and walk into a Massage Envy and get the member rate."
A third Utah location is expected to open in February in American Fork.
Hummel, who worked with the U.'s gymnastics team for 13 years, said he plans to open two more locations on Salt Lake's east side.
The Sandy clinic is open seven days a week: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Brad Plowman, a spokesman for the company, said Massage Envy will open 20 locations between Utah and Idaho in the next 18 months.
"They always have massage therapists on staff, and their hours are very extensive," Plowman said. "If you were out at 8 o'clock at night on a Friday night and you just played basketball and you were feeling it and wanted to go in, you could probably call and get in right then. So it's very different than your typical day-spa where you have to kind of schedule it a couple of days out."
Massage Envy Limited LLC is located in Scottsdale, Ariz. Established in 2001, the massage franchise company has more than 24 markets throughout North America.
E-mail: danderton@desnews.com