Couple Opens Full-service Spa

The Pink Papaya Inc.
Owner: Ryan and Miranda Epp
Address: 509 W. Spring St., Fayetteville 72701
Phone/Fax: (479) 521-PINK/(479) 521-5460
Hours: 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday
Startup date: Aug. 28
Web site: www.thepinkpapaya.net

By Lori Harrison-Stone

Ryan Epp was doing transportation logistics for Transplace, and his wife was working in a local day spa, when they decided to open their own spa. Ryan left the corporate life to be the business manager for the couple’s new full service spa, The Pink Papaya.

“It has been different,” Ryan Epp said. “A definite change of pace.”

His first job in the new career was to handle much of the renovations of the 3,000-SF shop they leased in the Reindl Warehouse, on West Avenue in Fayetteville. And it wasn’t all salon work stations. Ryan constructed a 7-foot glass water tower inside the spa to help add to the salon’s ambiance.

They took out a business loan to finance the venture, but he declined to disclose the total initial costs. The salon is already making a profit, he said.

Open seven days a week, The Pink Papaya is a full-service Aveda Concept salon and spa, offering eight stylists, two nail technicians, two estheticians and four massage therapists. The shop employs 23 people and that will likely satisfy its service needs despite customer growth in the coming year, he added.

The Pink Papaya carries Aveda products, including skin-care and hair-care products, and the Aveda fragrance line.