Lavender Garden Day Spa helps downtown unwind

The Lavender Garden Day Spa is a new business for downtown Kalamazoo but owner Claudia Sosulski is not new to the business.

 

Sosulski formerly ran Balancing Touch Massage Therapy on South Street. When she outgrew her previous location she found space on Westnedge Ave. and now offers an expanded lineup of services.

 

"When this space came open we decided to pursue the possible concept of pairing massage and a day spa with facials, massages, scrubs, wraps and more," Sosulski says.

 

Lavender Garden Day Spa features massage therapy, body treatments and skin care services. There also is a dry sauna and enough space for showers -- baby or bridal. The day spa at 219 S. Westnedge has 1,700 square feet of space and two floors, the lower of which is handicap accessible. Pedicures, facials and hair styles for special occasions also are now offered.

 

Products offered include those from Lavender Daydreams in Paw Paw and Elina Organics, which formerly was located in what is now the new day spa space.

 

Sosulski also emphasizes that customers who return each month as part of the spa's wellness package pay $49 for a massage. Otherwise, a massage can range from $65 to $95, depending upon time spent with the massage therapist. Students rates are $35 for a 50 minute massage

 

Sosulski became a massage therapist herself when her plan to become a doctor of holistic medicine was derailed by a divorce. She had come to the United States in 1994 from Switzerland where she had been in the hotel business. 

 

As she began to raise her children here she was disappointed with the medical treatment they were receiving and the reliance on pharmaceuticals at an early age. 

 

Her interest in holistic medicine grew and she took classes at the Kalamazoo Center for Healing Arts and obtained her training as a massage therapist. When the split in her marriage came, and with children to raise, she did not pursue further education but instead opened her own massage therapy business in 2005.

 

It has grown steadily and currently boasts at least 800 clients of which 100 are regularly booked each month. Plus there are calls for sessions from others. The day spa has four contract employees and Sosulski.