Pedicures have become a nail salon and spa staple across the world. While your feet are getting first-class treatment from nail technicians, you're most likely sitting in a throne with an interesting beginning.
A Russian immigrant, who would later form the pedicure spa chair manufacturer European Touch, invented the first spa chair in Brookfield in 1985, according to CEO Connie Weissling.
"His wife did nail services in Russia. When he was still in Russia he had thoughts of a pedicure spa-type chair, but didn't do anything till he came to the U.S.," Weissling says. "He worked on it in his garage and his invention was the world's first whirlpool pedicure spa."
This type of spa chair has a tub at the foot of the chair with jets much like a whirlpool.
The couple didn't do much with the spa after its inception in '85, but soon realized its potential, as the pedicure was a relatively new concept.
"Technicians would fill a bucket, bring it over to client, the water gets cold after 10 minutes and they'd have to carry it back to the sink and fill it up again," Weissling says. "This was an independent chair plumbed in like a bathtub. It was a benefit for both technician and client."
European Touch's ownership changed hands over the past few years and is currently owned by American Capital Strategies, a private equity company.
The spa manufacturer now dedicates its focus to improving the pedicure chair sanitation.
"Through innovative design and development we've provided the whirlpool without all the hidden pipes," Weissling says. "We created Crystal Clean Pipe-Free technology which eliminated the hidden pipes you'd have with a jetted tub. (When a technician is) done with each client they easily drain it, get in easily to clean and don't have to worry about the pipes."
In Milwaukee, Spa Roma Urban Dream Spa, 727 N. Milwaukee St., uses European Touch's Murano Pipeless Pedicure Thrones exclusively for its pedicure purposes.
Tisha Barnes, co-owner of Spa Roma, says, "We use European Touch's Murano Spa simply because it is the most luxurious spa out there right now. We also love that it's pipeless. There's no chance of getting someone else's skin or bacteria on you, it's the most sanitary."
Besides local spas, there's a possibility that you've seen European Touch's products on television, like the WB show "Twins" as well as MTV's "Laguna Beach."
There are plenty of other pedicure spa chairs in the market and European Touch wants to let people know that what they are providing is quality.
"As being the original inventor of something, there are lot of people who have copied and replicated a pedicure spa," Weissling says. "Quality is a big focus for us and there a lot are poor imitations."
Weissling says that European Touch's products are being used in approximately 30,000 nail salons and spas worldwide.
European Touch's web site is europeantouch.com.
Originally from Des Plaines, Ill., Heather moved to Milwaukee to earn a B.A. in journalism from Marquette University. With a tongue-twisting last name like Leszczewicz, it's best to go into a career where people don't need to say your name often.
However, she's still sticking to some of her Illinoisan ways (she won't reform when it comes to things like pop, water fountain or ATM), though she's grown to enjoy her time in the Brew City.
Although her journalism career is still budding, Heather has had the chance for some once-in-a-lifetime interviews with celebrities like actor Vince Vaughn and actress Charlize Theron, director Cameron Crowe and singers Ben Kweller and Isaac Hanson of '90s brother boy band Hanson.
Heather's a self-proclaimed workaholic but loves her entertainment. She's a real television and movie fanatic, book nerd, music junkie, coffee addict and pop culture aficionado.
