Introducing: John Allan’s men’s spa, yet another Hudson’s Bay Company acquisition
The place: Wednesday night’s opening of John Allan’s spa for men took place at The Bay’s flagship on Queen Street (just like so many things seem to these days). Occupying a corner of the third floor, the guys-only spot offers treatments for the shopping-weary fellow. The view doesn’t offer much serenity (it looks out over people who either can’t afford a membership or don’t want one), but we still think an accessible Toronto boys club is worth celebrating. Once The Bay gets its decent restaurant, we’ll never leave.
The stuff: John Allan’s offers options from head to toe, such as the “signature full service” (scalp-massaging shampoo, conditioning treatment, hot towel, haircut, manicure, shoeshine, beverage) for $65, haircuts ($51), facials ($78), massages ($105) and shoeshines ($4). For those keen on making return visits, an annual unlimited membership goes for $720, but the first 100 early adopters get a reduced rate of $620 (at publishing time, there were only 46 spots left).
The shoppers: Club director Diane Crete notes that the 54 members acquired to date range from Style by Jury’s David Clemmer and Bruce Turner to The Bachelor’s Jesse Palmer and, most generally,“meat-and-potatoes kind of guys.”
Our favourite thing: We love the organic all-natural, fragrance-free John Allan’s products and the rotating gallery with art for sale, currently featuring Josh Chalom’s pop art series of iconoclasts broken up into tiny Rubik’s cubes. More and more, The Bay is becoming Toronto’s version of a casino, where time seems to stand still and patrons are hypnotized by the show around them.
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