Bliss (Spa)

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Blissworld, LLC.
Type	Limited liability corporation
Genre	Spa and Retail Product Company
Founded	New York City, U.S. (1996)
Founder	Marcia Kilgore
Headquarters	New York City, United States
No. of locations	9
Area served	North America, United Kingdom
Products	Bath, Body and Skincare
Services	Facial, Massage, Body treatment, Manicure, Pedicure and Waxing
Parent	Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Website	www.blissworld.com

Bliss is a multi-channel spa and retail product company founded in 1996 and headquartered in Downtown New York. The company retails its own line of bath, body and skincare products through its Bliss catalog, website, Bliss spa stores and at international luxury retailers including Bloomingdale's, Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Selfridges and Sephora ^[1].

Contents 1 Current Locations 2 Future Locations 3 History 4 Timeline 5 The Brand 6 Acquisition by LVMH 7 Acquisition by Starwood Hotels & Resorts 8 Partnership With JetBlue 9 Awards 10 References

[edit] Current Locations

There are presently nine Bliss Spas worldwide:^[2]

New York City

• Bliss Soho
• Bliss 57
• Bliss 49

Other U.S. locations

• Bliss San Francisco

• Bliss Chicago

• Bliss Los Angeles

• Bliss Dallas

• Bliss Atlanta – Midtown^[3]

United Kingdom

• Bliss London

[edit] Future Locations

Bliss continues to expand globally, with future locations planned at W Hotels in Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S., Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S., Hong Kong and Doha, Qatar^[4].

[edit] History

Bliss was founded by Marcia Kilgore, a Saskatchewan, Canada native who moved to Manhattan in 1987 to attend Columbia University. During college, she became a personal trainer to make money. Soon after she decided to take a course in skincare, largely because she had personally suffered from acne since her preteen years. Inspired by her classes, she began giving facials to her friends out of her East Village apartment^[5][6]. She opened her first single-room office in New York’s Soho district in 1991, followed by the opening of a three-room mini-spa called Let’s Face It! in June 1993^[7]. To accommodate increasing demand, Kilgore opened the first Bliss Spa in SoHo in July 1996.

[edit] Timeline

• July 1996 - Bliss’ flagship spa, Bliss Soho, opens on Broadway in New York City

• March 19, 1999 - LVMH acquires Bliss

• December 17, 1999 - Bliss opens Bliss 57 on East 57th Street in New York City

• November 26, 2001 - Bliss opens its first international spa, Bliss London

• October 2002 - Bliss launches its first QuickBliss spa service station at Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge in London, offering an abbreviated menu of fast facials, waxing and nail services

• January 2004 - Starwood Hotels & Resorts acquires Bliss

• November 2004 - Bliss 49 opens in the W New York in New York City

• July 2005 - Bliss San Francisco opens, located in the W San Francisco

• October 2005 - Bliss Chicago opens at the W Chicago – Lake Shore

• March 2006 - Bliss Los Angeles opens in the W Los Angeles – Westwood

• April 2006 - Bliss announces partnership with JetBlue airlines, in which Bliss amenity kits are given to passengers on overnight flights

• June 2006 - Bliss Dallas openes at the W Dallas – Victory

• March 2008 - Bliss Atlanta-Midtown, openes in the W Atlanta-Midtown

[edit] The Brand

Atmosphere

Bliss is known for introducing a fun, unpretentious spa atmosphere ^[8] and is often credited with kickstarting the mid 90's spa boom^[9]. A sense of humor is evident throughout the brand, with whimsically named spa treatments and products, such as “Quadruple Thighpass” for an anti-cellulite treatment^[10].

Blissgirl

One of the most definitive images associated with the Bliss brand is their Blissgirl character, an illustrated girl who appears throughout Bliss-branded channels, including catalog covers and the Bliss website. She is usually depicted using beauty products in playful ways, to align with Bliss’ playful brand personality.

Since her introduction, she has undergone several different illustration styles and characteristics, evolving over the years. She has been shown with almost every hair color, and has even appeared as different races. She is almost always dressed in a signature white towel and Bliss’ Softening Socks and Glamour Gloves.

Products

The products are inspired by the company’s spa treatments, and many of them are meant to allow you to recreate the spa experience at home^[11][12]. This is evident in such products as the Poetic Waxing Kit (the kit contains the same gentle wax used during in spa waxing treatments) and the Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask (a foaming mask that’s based on their Triple Oxygen Treatment facial).

Positioning

Bliss positions itself as the young, modern antithesis to stuffy, intimidating spas ^[13], featuring unconventional touches such as rhythm & blues music, a brownie buffet and movie-while-you-manicure nail stations^[14][15]. The spa has attracted celebrity clientele including Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts, Uma Thurman, Jennifer Lopez and Madonna^[16].

[edit] Acquisition by LVMH

In March of 1999, the world’s leading luxury products group, LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton), announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Bliss World for a reported $30 million^[17]. It was LVMH’s first North American acquisition^[18], and a break with their previous strategy of pursuing European prestige brands^[19]. In December 1999, LVMH christened its office tower at 57th Street and Madison Avenue in New York City by opening the second Bliss Spa, Bliss 57^[20].

[edit] Acquisition by Starwood Hotels & Resorts

In January of 2004, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. acquired Bliss from LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton) for a reported $25 million in cash^[21]. As part of the acquisition, Starwood launched Bliss Spas in several of its W Hotels in an effort to move its W hotel brand into the resort business. The first W Hotel to premiere a Bliss Spa was the W New York in New York City in November of 2004^[22]. All W Hotels also feature Bliss in-room amenities^[23], regardless of whether or not the hotel houses an actual Bliss Spa. This “Bliss Sinkside Six-Pack” includes a face wash, body wash, body butter, shampoo, conditioner and bar of soap. Starwood’s aloft hotel chain will also feature Bliss amenities^[24].

[edit] Partnership With JetBlue

In April of 2006, JetBlue Airways partnered with Bliss, hoping to fill seats in fiercely competitive transcontinental markets^[25]. On JetBlue’s overnight flights from the Western United States, called Shut-Eye Flights, customers received an exclusive Bliss-branded amenity kit containing breath freshening mint lip balm, lemon+sage body butter, an eyeshade and earplugs^[26][27]. The kits were distributed only on flights between Western states and the East Coast for a one year period.

[edit] Awards

• Spa Finder

Best Brand 2007^[28]

• Conde Nast Traveler

Hot List 2006 - Bliss San Francisco^[29]

Hot List 2007 - Bliss Los Angeles^[30]

• Allure

Best Body Scrub - Super Minty Soap n’ Scrub^[31]

Best Hotel Day Spa - Bliss 49^[32]

• InStyle Magazine

Best Beauty Buy 2007 - Baggage Handler^[33]

[edit] References