December

The Starbucks of massage?

To have flowers delivered, a person can pick up the phone, call 1-800-FLOWERS, and a bouquet is sent. A Los Angeles entrepreneur has followed that model to create 1-888-50-MASSAGE. With this service a client can have massage delivered to a home, office or hotel room—usually on the same day the call is placed.

Go Massage was launched in May 2004 by Evan Aaronson. He'd been working as a writer and director for film and television, but didn't want to continue to work in that high-pressure industry and so began exploring businesses in the holistic health field. "When I discovered that the costs of opening a traditional spa were too great, I came up with the idea of Go Massage," he says.

Go Massage began in Los Angeles, then expanded throughout Southern and Northern California. Aaronson planned to take his company into Nevada, Arizona, Oregon and Washington by the end of 2005 (past this publication's deadline)—and then, perhaps, into the rest of the continent.

"We hope to become the leading brand associated with massage, just as Kinkos did with copies or Starbucks did with coffee," he says. "It's a big goal, but we're up for the task.

For more information, including information on employment, visit www.gomassage.net.

— Karen Menehan