StoneWorks Massage & Skincare relocates after fire | News | pressrepublican.com - Plattsburgh Press Republican

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PLATTSBURGH — Thanks to a strong community effort over the past three weeks, StoneWorks Massage & Skincare will be back up and running Nov. 1.

An Oct. 11 electrical fire left the spa’s Route 9 Plattsburgh location completely destroyed and all of the employees displaced, which had owners Chad Hunkins and Rebecca Albright scrambling to figure out the next steps for their beloved business.

“It just went up in flames so quickly,” Albright said.

“It was just heartbreaking. We bought that place as a residential property and we put everything into it to turn it to commercial property and to do the steps. Every single month we would put away any extra money we had to be able to afford to update a room or make sure we were ADA compliant and get all of this stuff done so we could turn it into a commercial property for the business … it’s hard, it’s a hard loss.”

SPED UP MOVING PROCESS

Hunkins moved StoneWorks Massage & Skincare from West Bay Plaza to the Route 9 location in 2019, Albright said, but with business growing rapidly — even through a pandemic — it became clear a bigger location would be needed to achieve all of their goals.

So over the past six months, Hunkins and Albright had been actively working toward buying a building at 179 Tom Miller Road, with hopes of eventually moving and expanding their spa there after the sale was official.

But, the fire expedited that buying process.

“We called the sellers the day of the fire and they were like, ‘We will lease you the space, here’s the code, get in, start doing what you need to do and we will close ASAP,’” Albright said.

“And so that allowed us to really start getting in there and it’s just been a whirlwind ever since.”

BEEN ‘ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE’

The unexpected sudden costs of closing, though, now has the couple in need of financial help, she said.

“It’s been a very long process, because we’ve had to work with the bank and the small business portion of it for the lending. Because it’s a huge purchase and we’re a small business, we don’t have that kind of capital,” she said.

“So unfortunately, everything that we have saved over the last several years has went just for that down payment for the closing and (we’ve gotten) nothing from our insurance. It’s been horrible, absolutely horrible.”

GOFUNDME SET UP

To help with the financial burden, Hunkins and Albright set up a GoFundMe to raise money for the new building’s renovations. Albright said the community has been gracious with donations, among many other things.

Since the day of the fire, community members have also been volunteering their time to get the new building ready to move into, she said.

Whether it was helping to paint, dropping off food or donating funds, it’s been a collaborative effort to reopen the small business.

“A lot of them have been clients in the past, and as a small business, you get to know them as friends, you get to know them as individuals. and even the day of the fire on Tuesday, both of the contractors pulled in with their trucks and they’re the ones that boarded up the building. They got up on the roof, they put the tarp on, they secured it for us, because otherwise, it would still be open, because our insurance company hasn’t done anything for it,” Albright said.

“I literally told everybody that has been to the (new) space, that has contacted us, if it was not for the small businesses, the community, the volunteers, the drop offs, the donations, our business would have folded. We would not have been able to restart.”

NEW AND IMPROVED

When StoneWorks Massage & Skincare reopens Monday, some things will be the same, like the hours and days of operation for one.

But clientele can also expect to see many new changes to the business.

“The Route 9 building was 1,000-square-feet and this one is 6,000-square-feet. We are going to now be able to offer a studio with yoga and meditation classes. There’s an inground heated therapy pool, so we’re going to be able to offer Watsu massages, which is a water massage and relaxation that is not offered anywhere in the North Country,” Albright said.

“We are now going to be able to offer the community a members-only area, which is an exclusive area … by adding that as a monthly membership, we’re able to keep the prices of our services low and affordable, because we want every single person in the community to be able to experience what a massage, a facial, any of the products and services that we offer, we want everybody to be able to afford it, to come in.

“It’s more of an aesthetic update for a spa atmosphere.”

A GREAT CREW

Albright said with offering more amenities, they’re also expecting to add more staff to the mix.

“We wanted to be a very well-rounded wellness center that offers the classes and offers stuff that you don’t have to go hours away to get,” she said.

“You can stay here and people can really come and stay a full day with us. It also offers a lot of positions for locals as well to work with us and come on staff. We’ve got 12 right now, but we’ve got a couple more coming on board once Nov. 1, hits and we get up and running. So we’ve got a great crew and we’re very excited.”