After nearly 20 years in Old Town, Izalia Hair Removal & Rejuvenation Laser Spa permanently closed this week. The company’s website is down, and so are their Facebook and Instagram pages.
In a farewell email to customers, founder Annette Antonelli stated that the situation is “heartbreaking” and that the business had been operating at a loss for “quite a while.” She also said the closure is partly due to customers who did not meet their agreed-upon dates for multiple laser hair removal sessions and consequently expected free treatments.
One former customer found the email odd.
“It seems weird to blame closing on sales and policies that the owner implemented,” the customer told us.
The full letter is below:
It is with great sadness I announce that, after over 19 years of operating, and after just last month being voted again as a Top Medspa in NoVa Magazine, Izalia Laser Spa has gone out of business.
To the thousands of you who’ve supported us through the years and given us business, even when things aren’t on sale, and who’ve been diligent in keeping your agreements to not miss growth cycles and ensure each of your laser treatments have been effective, and who have brought happy and grateful vibes to our workplace, we thank you so much. You’ve been a joy to serve and we will think of you with gratitude and fondness forever.
Over the years, each member of my team and I have given our all to providing your desired results and to making Izalia a place of joy for everyone.
Please know that, although it’s actually been a while now that we’ve been insolvent, we’ve still done everything imaginable to try to hang on. The reality is that the Izalia business model of offering free treatments as a guarantee after 8 effective treatments are provided, is a model that can only work when people mostly purchase the first 8 treatments at regular price and then keep all the agreements to ensure that those 8 treatments are effective, thereby making a need for additional free treatments unlikely.
Unfortunately in the last several years, the client trend has largely shifted to only giving us business during sales (when our profit margin is eliminated), and also to disregard one or more elements of the agreements to ensure effective treatments, making a need for additional treatments inevitable. It became expected that we would provide numerous free treatments at an expense to us, even when the agreed prerequisites were blatantly ignored. This trend has only crept up in the last several years, and since our efforts to correct it have failed, we’ve been operating at a loss for quite a while. To those of you who did all that is required to achieve permanent results within 8 treatments and who will now be missing out, we are very, very sorry. Frankly, the entire situation is heartbreaking.
I’ve given my heart and soul to Izalia, to our beloved clients, to the small business community in Old Town, and to being the very best businesswoman I can think of to be. I’ve endeavored to be abundantly generous and abundantly fair; I even offered the only two-way cancellation policy of any business I’ve ever seen, with Izalia paying the clients a fee if we ever canceled on them within 24 hours. I’ve tried to bring excellence to every single day the business has been open.
Overall, together with my amazing team, we’ve done our best and given our all. It’s been a pleasure serving you and getting to know you. Some of our most cherished friendships have come because of Izalia.
What’s next?
I’m not certain yet. I’m exploring some exciting collaboration possibilities in the wellness space, but I’ll definitely be taking some time to hold still for a bit. I’m still holding a place in my heart to hopefully find a way to incorporate a laser element with whatever comes next, since laser aesthetics is one of the passions in my heart, and hopefully I will he able to be involved in additional new and exciting trends. If, down the road I’m fortunate enough to be involved in something fabulous, I’ll be sure to let everyone know and would love it if what I’m offering is something you are interested in.
Meanwhile, we wish all the best for each and every one of you, and again express our heartfelt appreciation and send all our love and gratitude.
With sadness for goodbye and with thankful vibes for the wonderful journey this has been,
Annette Antonelli
Founder, Izalia Spa
