With high-quality services at unrecognizably low prices, Spencer’s is out to democratize the idea of treating yourself.
New York is arguably one of the best cities in the world. When it comes to spa variety, however, there is less hyperbole. Massages and facials are relegated to five- star hotels and increasingly expensive boutique studios or no-frills bathhouses. “The places I go are what I would call cheap and cheerful,” Ryan McCarthy says. “When I want to treat myself, I go to the Aman, which costs an arm and a leg.” McCarthy has been piecemealing his wellness routine since he arrived in the city 10 years ago from Australia by way of LA, but the idea that there could be a single destination where treatment quality and experience are elevated and affordable has possessed him. Last fall, he opened Spencer’s spa to bridge this gap from a fourth-floor perch in Soho with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Broadway.
McCarthy is admittedly not “a wellness freak.” His background is in design and brand consulting. But his passion for the project was enough to convince friend and British design wunderkind Charlotte Taylor to create the interiors for the 3,300 square foot space. Taylor spent four months sourcing vintage furniture and trimmings for the project before applying what she describes as a “curated domestic, elevated comfort” overlay to the waiting room-turned-living room. Spencer’s aesthetics director and friend-of-a-friend, Gillian Milberg, was similarly swayed. “Ur skincare big sis” on TikTok, who runs Skin by Gill in Tribeca, Milberg helped McCarthy design the spa’s signature facial—a combination of gentle exfoliation, microcurrent, and red light therapy that she describes as “very approachable, with no recovery time and maximum efficacy, for a reasonable cost.” It’s the kind of treatment you can get a few times a month to maintain clarity and tone, and that’s precisely how McCarthy envisioned it.
“Our average price for a 60-minute treatment, whether it’s a facial or a massage, is $101,” McCarthy, 31, exp- lains, detailing a membership model that allows for deeply discounted treatments with a monthly fee that you can cancel, if you wish, after three months. “This is not a treat; it is part of your routine.”
That was certainly the appeal for Michael Alicia, Spencer’s wellness director. The founder and director of New York’s Center for the Advancement of Therapeutic Arts (CATA), Alicia found a kindred spirit in McCarthy—specifically his vision to democratize what Alicia calls the “life-affirming benefits” of massage.
On a recent visit to Spencer’s, I slipped on a fresh pair of the spa’s socks and leather slippers and proceeded through a heavy curtain divider into one of the private massage rooms where white noise machines and well-appointed charging stations are just a few of the details that elevate the experience. Alicia’s well-trained team, who perform a series of Swedish, Thai, and long, flowing Hawaiian Lomi Lomi techniques to engage the parasympathetic nervous system, took it to a whole other level.
McCarthy is already working on an- other Spencer’s outpost in Soho, which will apply his model to sauna and cold plunging. Additional locations, each with unique concepts, will follow in New York before a West Coast expansion. An in- house product line is also in motion, all in an effort to keep quality high and prices low. Adds McCarthy, “At the end of the day, if you’re not doing good things with good people, what’s the fucking point?”
Taken from 10 Magazine USA Issue 04 – MUSIC, TALENT, CREATIVE – on newsstands now. Order your copy here.
