BY JILL NAGY
With 10 massage therapists on staff, Elements
Massage in Clifton Park welcomes
walk-ins as well as people with appointments.
The studio has been very busy since it
opened only weeks ago, so an appointment
is advisable.
It is located at 5 Southside Drive at the
Shops at Village Plaza.
Elements Massage is a franchise and the
new Clifton Park site is the first in Upstate
New York, said Beth Godsil, who co-owns
the business with her husband Rob Hanks.
There are some 180 Elements Massage
franchises in the United States.
The massage therapists offer a variety
of massage types, including Swedish, trigger
point, deep tissue, prenatal and hotstone.
All of the therapists have New York
state licenses and more than half of them
trained at the Center for Natural Wellness
in Albany.
Godsil said most of the therapists work
part time, between 10 and 25 hours a week.
They are employees of the business, with
Elements providing tools and supplies,
doing their marketing and providing quarterly
education programs to keep them
up-to-date on latest trends or changes.
There are six massage rooms, which owner Godsil described as “very calm and
comforting.”
Three weeks into the business, Godsil
reported there are 65 members of the
wellness program. Members are entitled
to regular services at a discounted price.
She estimated that more than 200 massage
sessions had been completed in the
first three weeks the business was open.
She attributed the early surge to the fact
that the business sign went up several
weeks before it opened, whetting curiosity,
and to a postcard campaign just before
the shop opened. In addition, they offer
a special introductory rate of $49 for a
55-minute massage.
Godsil’s background is in retail sales
and human resources. Most recently, she
worked for Verizon in Nashville Tenn. She
and her husband moved to the area from
Nashville, but both of them are from upstate
New York.
When her husband took a position in
Malta, “it kind of brought us home,” she
said. They looked at several business opportunities
but the Elements franchise
“spoke to us the most,” she said.
Elements Massage is open seven days a
week, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday
and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays. The telephone
number is 245-9505.