By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
There is a new way to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the weekly grind in Kendall Park.
A new MassageLuxe franchise is open in a Kendall Park shopping plaza at 3570 Route 27.
Franchise owner Sapan Inamdar, 34, of North Brunswick, said the operation is the first in New Jersey and one of about 20 nationwide that provide massage and facial services.
”We want people to incorporate massages into their healthy lifestyles,” Mr. Inamdar said. “We want to offer the best massage at the best value.”
Mr. Inamdar previously worked in the financial industry on Wall Street in New York City, but wanted to be closer to home for work and wanted to be in the massage business.
”To be in banking, you have to be in New York,” Mr. Inamdar said. “I didn’t want to commute (into the city) everyday.”
By switching to his new field, Mr. Inamdar said he is now closer to home for his family and is able to provide a service that he enjoys.
”It is very much about family and doing something I always wanted to do,” Mr. Inamdar said.
The franchise started in 2007 and is different from similar businesses because it offers clients a monthly membership where they can get a massage each month and use an automated water-powered massage bed once a day for one price, according to the parent company’s website.
”We don’t (just) wait for people to come in,” Mr. Inamdar said.
The facility employs 10 certified massage therapists and already has about 400 clients, according to Mr. Inamdar.
Clients can take advantage of several different massages, such as a traditional Swedish massage or a deep tissue massage for those involved in sports or with back pain.
One of the therapists, Jason Wee, 29, of Kendall Park said he entered the field because he wanted to help people.
”I was always giving massages to my friends,” Mr. Wee said.
Mr. Wee said he put in more than 600 hours to be certified as a massage therapist and usually does six or eight hour-long massages in a day.
The franchise offers an introductory special hour-long massage for $38 and then a monthly membership of $58, which is the normal hourly massage rate.
Mr. Inamdar said he chose South Brunswick because of the office’s location on Route 27 and the residential area surrounding it.
For more information about MassageLuxe, call 732-821-5893, or visit the facility from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays or 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays.
