Eviama: A different kind of green spa
Center City spa and boutique has eco-friendly construction and sustainable energy.
PENNY ORDWAY, 61, of Ardmore, is founder of Eviama Life Spa on 13th Street near Sansom, in Center City. Eviama was created with eco-friendly construction materials and uses 100 percent sustainable energy. The spa specializes in massages, but also offers organic facials, skin-care treatments, body wraps, waxing, meditation classes and more. A boutique also sells fair-trade and organic baby clothing, accessories, toys and eyeglasses.
Q: When did you start, and what was the idea behind Eviama?
A: In 2002. I wanted a healthy place with holistic services and completely nontoxic products.
Q: You relocated in March. What separates you from other green spas?
A: We used reclaimed timber materials from an old church in Manayunk that was being renovated into houses. We have antique doors we repurposed from our old space [near Monk's Cafe]. All the paints and stains are completely nontoxic. The energy is all-electric, and for 11 years we've never burned any fossil fuels. The lighting is mostly LED.
Q: Who are your customers?
A: We have many baby boomers, but we also have Generation X and Y and millennials. Both men and women who want serious therapy. We have lots of professional folks, accountants, lawyers, physicians, people who travel, but I also have clients in their 80s. The majority are female, and most generally want massages, but a close second is skin care.
Q: How much do services cost?
A: A typical massage is 55 minutes for $108. A simple facial is about an hour and is $109. The two-hour Dr. Hauschka Skin Care Classic Treatment is $197 and includes a foot bath, foot and leg massage and stretching.
Q: Tell me about Dr. Hauschka's skin-care products.
A: The products are plant-based and support the intelligence, function and rhythm of the skin. We use some of the finest organic and biodynamic plant-based products. Hauschka started as a medicine company. Then they started a skin-care and body-care line. If you go to the company gardens [in southern Germany] there are no machines and only people working in the gardens and everything is made by hand.
Q: How many employees?
A: Four full-time people and four part-time doing services. I have a couple of full-time desk people and one part-time desk person. So we're 11.
Q: How big a business is this?
A: If it's a great year, we do over $500,000 in revenue, and if it's a slower year, it's under $500,000.
Q: Where do you see the business in the next several years?
A: More and more people are attuned to holistic thinking and how that can affect the quality of life. If I were to set a goal for Eviama, I would hope to have a 16 to 20 percent increase in business in the next year.