Emerald Earth Spa to close its doors at the Best Western

By Rachel Fraser

After five years in operation, Emerald Earth Spa, located in the Best Western Plus Valemount Inn and Suites, will close its doors at the end of the summer. 

Owner/operator Sherrie Houghton was surprised to learn her lease would not be renewed by the hotel when it expires in July and is now looking for an alternative space in which to run her spa. 

“Because it’s so soon that the lease expires, and it’s summer, they were really generous to give me a few extra months,” said Houghton, adding that she has until October 31st to be out of the space. “Which is great, because that gives people time to come and visit one more time. If people have gift cards, it gives them time to come and use the gift cards. And it also gives me time to try to figure out what’s next.”

The Best Western has been very supportive of her business, Houghton said, and helped her grow as a business owner.

Tony Bielec, Director of Operations for Vantage Hotels, the family-owned corporation that owns the Best Western, confirmed the end of the tenancy in an email to the Goat. He said the decision not to renew Houghton’s lease was not taken lightly, but is due to the loss of the Mount Robson Inn in the Jasper wildfire complex, which was also owned by Vantage Hotels and contained the primary office. The spa space is now needed as part of the corporate base of operations until the rebuilding in Jasper is complete.

Houghton said she has a few different ideas for what’s next.

“It was really recent news, so it’s definitely taken me a bit of time to actually realize it’s happening,” she said. “There’s no way around it; my spa space is coming to an end.”

She’s already started looking for a new space but is finding it a challenge to find something affordable for a small business run by one person. 

Spas and hotels make a good symbiotic business model and it’s an obvious place for her to be looking for another partnership, but Houghton says she prefers to have her own studio space this time around. Houghton estimates 80 per cent of her spa guests have been tourists, some of which were a direct pipeline from the Best Western’s guests. She has always marketed towards the spa being a destination amenity and has extensive experience offering spa services in tourist destinations as a contractor working away. 

“I do feel it will be a bit of a loss to the tourism industry to not have that type of amenity here anymore, but I’m also hopeful that if and when I do have a new space that my marketing is still good enough to attract those customers again, wherever they’re staying in Valemount.”

She’s considering having a studio at her house, but prior to entering her lease with the Best Western, she applied to the Village of Valemount for a business license for a home-based massage business and was refused. Without knowing why, she doesn’t know what to expect if she tries again. 

In an email to the Goat, Krista Etty, Planner & Subdivision Approving Officer for the Village, said that though she could not comment on individual applications, an unsuccessful business license application could be related to zoning restrictions on the property, not passing a fire inspection, or receiving the approval of Northern Health to practice massage. She also said that if someone is turned down for a license, reasoning is provided to the applicant and if any issues communicated to the applicant are remedied, they can proceed with their business license application. The zoning bylaw has been updated in the intervening years, and thus, any zoning restrictions may have changed.

If Houghton is unable to find a suitable location to offer spa services, her other option is to focus on her skincare company, which she says is booming. 

“My skin care company is really thriving and definitely carrying Emerald Earth through. So I could just focus on that and just run the skin care side of the business” 

Houghton operates a second company under the same name which manufactures and distributes organic skin care products, such as cleansers, scrubs and moisturizers. Within the last year, sales have increased, and her products are now sold in 50 venues across North America including spas, refilleries, health food stores, eco lodges and retreats. 

“I think a lot of it has to do with building the website to have a really great online presence, so people are now discovering my brand just organically online.” 

She also likes the idea of doing seasonal pop-up spas, which would mean setting up in a temporary location just for the summer months, or just the winter.

“I’m just kind of feeling it out what the community wants, what I have time and energy for. Lots of exciting ideas!”