Interview with Russ Buttacavoli, founder/president
Q: How did you get involved in this business?
A: While playing stickball in the streets of the Bronx, owning a Denver day spa and skin care center was the last thing I envisioned. Getting married at an early age, I found myself driving a gypsy cab around an area of the South Bronx called Fort Apache. It was such a notorious neighborhood they made a movie out of it with Paul Newman in the early ’80s. I eventually landed a safer, more stable job selling health and life insurance. At age 29, I was asked to take over sales for the company’s Denver office, so my wife, Linda, and I packed up our three daughters and relocated to the Mile High City. Linda had always been intrigued by her New York cousin’s career in the skin care business, so she became one of Denver’s earliest licensed aestheticians. We were clueless about the spa industry, but decided to combine Linda’s skin care skills with my sales and management experience and launched our business.
Q: What distinguishes you from other businesses in your category?
A: Beau Visage Skin Care & Spa has been family-owned and operated for 30 years. We were the first day spa in the Denver area. Also the first to combine individual services into gift packages. The first to serve catered lunches. The first to use radio and other mass media to target male listeners with gift ideas for the women in their lives. And the first to offer employee benefits.
Q: What do you like best about your line of work?
A: I like being self-employed and am proud of what we’ve accomplished in terms of our longtime client and vendor loyalty. Having absolutely no experience in the spa industry, Linda and I get great satisfaction out of having started and sustaining a leading area day spa through 30 sometimes difficult years. We’re also proud of being able to pass it on to our daughters, Christine Warriner (vice president of operations) and Laurine Dion (treasurer), and our granddaughter, Alexandra (customer service manager).
Q: What is your business’ biggest challenge?
A: Although we offer a very comprehensive menu of health and beauty treatments in a luxurious setting at competitive prices, we’re faced with an enormous amount of discount competition from companies attempting to turn our industry into a Walmart.
Q: Something people might be surprised to learn about you or your business:
A: Because we feel we need to give back, we’re very supportive of our community. On Military Tuesdays, we give a 20 percent discount to active and retired service members and their families. We donate gift cards to a large number of charitable organizations such as Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Profile
Business: Beau Visage Skin Care & Spa
Address: 5988 S. Holly St. (the Orchards Center), Greenwood Village; 8055 W. Bowles Ave.(Bowles Crossing), Littleton
Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday and Saturday; 8:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 8:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Founded: 1986
Contact: 303-779-5002,
Employees: 50
