Chillhouse Soho Flagship is officially open! After much anticipation, a brand new mecca of self-care has finally come to life. This has been an incredible space to watch get built from the ground up, and having watched our team personally, it’s safe to say this was the product of blood, sweat, and tears. To celebrate such a milestone for the company, we sat down with our beloved Chiller-in-Chief, Cyndi Ramirez-Fulton, to chat about the importance of self-care, to get to know the exciting features of the new space, and to talk the future of chill.
What would you say to someone who says they don’t have time for self-care?
“Yes you do, always. There’s pockets of [self-care] no matter what that may look like, and there’s no definitive timeline for how long a self-care routine or practice should be. It could be two seconds long, it could be two hours long– it’s all subjective to the individual, their schedule, their needs, and their timeline. You have to squeeze it in, otherwise the world can drive you nuts.”
What do you think the future of wellness looks like?
“I think the trendy stuff [within the wellness space] will kind of weed its way out and people will just want to go back to the basics and the things that work for them. I think there’s just so much out there [right now], so companies that know how to simplify and provide [services] that are purposeful but also functional and have a very deliberate result are the companies that are going to thrive the most, versus the ones that create some new, crazy technology. I think it’s more about weeding through the noise and providing something that’s effective.”
What made you decide to open a flagship location? What was the AHA moment?
“When we were presented with the space – it was just too good to pass up. I really do love this location a lot. It’s a pocket of New York City that I think is underserved and under-discovered, which I love. I love being in a place where it’s like the best-kept secret. So it was an “aha” moment for that reason. The spaces that [the developers] were presenting to us were definitely larger, so it got us talking about the future of chill and what we would want to present in future locations and the service mix we want to offer both our customers and members. That’s kind of where we ended up with this larger space, because we realized there was more we needed to expand on in order to really tell our story properly.”
How would you describe Big Chill?
“Big Chill [is] the epitome of a destination you’ll want to spend all your time in, whereas with little chill, there were a couple things that were left to be desired, like pedicures, the infrared area, and maybe even a bigger space for the café. There were couple of things we learned in that space that we edited and hope to perfect in this property. You’ll see the design, the location, and unit itself – they’re very special. Of course, we’re adding pedicures and the Chill Heat room, so these are two new services that have never been introduced before that we’re going to be introducing here, which we’re excited about.”
Where did the inspo for face and body studio come from?
“The idea is to really be able to provide our members with a destination they can continue to go to on the east side, but also [keeping in mind] that that space is significantly smaller than [the new] one. [This got us thinking], “How do we maintain quality across services, provide the best experience, and how do we do that in a way that’s not going to jeopardize the operations there?” We really wanted to simplify that unit, and so we got rid of the café and nail. This allows us to really make sure that these are areas we can always have our eyes on. Face and Body studios are definitely a little bit smaller in scale than flagship locations. There’s a lot less to manage and operate because there’s only two services, so the idea is that we would hope to replicate [Face and Body studios] at a faster pace in the future as we expand, and these [larger spaces] will be more brand owned units that Chillhouse will always continue to operate and will always have brand and creative control over.”
What’s next for Chillhouse?
Well, Face and Body studio [is the next focus]. As soon as we’re done launching here, we’re kind of going full steam ahead with renovations [at LES], to be reopened in a few short weeks before the holidays (so keep that location on your radar for maximum, lowkey chill.) It’s going to be such a special space that’s going to feel very different from [the flagship]. If your intention is to get a massage [at flagship], you’re walking into maybe not the most relaxing scenario – there’s café, there’s nails, there’s a lot of stuff happening. Whereas [at the Face and Body Studio], you enter and it’s automatic zen. It’ll be a much more boutique version of this in a way ,where it feels very quaint and special which I’m very excited about.
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All Images via Alec Kugler
