What are Your Thoughts on a Brick & Mortar Cuddle Studio

JazzyPantsJazzyPants
edited January 2018 in General

Across the country there are more and more brick and mortar operations opening for business. I'm interested to learn what everyone's opinions are of cuddle studios?

Q1: Professional Cuddlers - would you work for one? 1099 or W2?

Q2: Paying Clients - would you frequent or go to a cuddle studio? Would it mater if it were a wellness facility?

Q3: All - Why?

Comments

  • I_am_PolyloverI_am_Polylover

    If Cuddle Sanctuary was here in Pasadena instead of Santa Monica, I'd probably frequent them on a regular basis. Jean and Fei, the two main cuddlers there are awesome. I would not pay for individual sessions, but I'd definitely go to some of their cuddle parties.
    <3 Jim

  • SideonSideon

    A studio would be awesome. I like the idea of cuddle parties, too.

  • BrandiBrandi

    Ive thought about a cuddle cafe in the past, but didnt want to take the needed steps to actually go through the work, however I would love to work from a studio/cuddle place as long as it looked legit, felt warm and inviting rather than like a hole in the wall little place. And would want a w2.
    :)

  • BlueIrisBlueIris Mod
    edited January 2018

    I like the idea of it, and I think it would be great not to have to use my home all the time. However, I would not do it if I didn't have the ability to screen my own clients. I would want the option to decline if the client were someone I didn't think I would get along well with. For me compatibility is my focus, in order that both the client and I have a good cuddle experience.

  • JazzyPantsJazzyPants

    @blueIris you make an excellent point. Perhaps in a situation where someone makes an appointment online (much like some a massage therapist) then the therapist will call the client and take 5 minutes to discuss what is to be expected. Sometimes, they take 5 minutes immediately before the massage. The idea of not using my house is incredibly attractive to me as well.

  • JazzyPantsJazzyPants
    edited January 2018

    @Brandi I totally agree! It can't be scuzzy (sp) or in a bad neighborhood. I had a friend tell me I should rent an apartment. I think she missed the idea behind the cuddling movement but you can't blame her. Nobody really knows about cuddling.

    I really appreciate everyone's feedback. This is incredibly helpful.

  • [Deleted User]Greybeard (deleted user)

    I live in semi-conservative suburban Chicago. In recent years we’ve had a spate of Massage budinesses popping up. In addition to each MT being licensed, the various communities have come up with licensing schemes for the establishment. They state some public health concerns, but they mostly are suspicious of prostitution taking place. ( And they do undercover stings to validate their suspicions. ) The education and sales job that you’d have to do to get a local business license for a cuddle business may be insurmountable. I could be wrong, but the platonic cuddle thing is not yet mainstream enough to not be looked at with a jaundiced eye.

  • [Deleted User]RScarf1 (deleted user)

    It would have to be in a community that would have enough customers willing to pay. A lot of people want to cuddle, but I think people are more apt to pay for a one hour massage than a one hour cuddle.

  • JazzyPantsJazzyPants
    edited January 2018

    ok great. I had written a lot more but I really want everyone's opinions.

  • [Deleted User]RScarf1 (deleted user)

    Regarding Q1, I don't think there is a huge demand for male cuddlers.

  • pmvinespmvines

    Would seem difficult to keep open as I don't see there would be a big demand for it. It is few and far between for someone to seek out paying for cuddling, and I would imagine there would be competition to try to get business from the people who generally prefer to go to a persons home or have them at theirs.

  • [Deleted User]RScarf1 (deleted user)

    I agree with pmvines. It is a nice idea though and it may happen eventually, but I don't think on a large scale. Maybe a few cuddle studios will emerge. I saw on the Shark Tank TV show that a lady wanted money to open a cat cafe where customers would drink coffee and interact with cats. There are only a few cat cafes in America. I would go to it because I like cats, but considering there are only a few cat cafes in the U.S., there is not a big demand and there may be cities that have laws against animals being in restaurants unless they are service animals.

  • I_am_PolyloverI_am_Polylover

    I think that Cuddle Sanctuary is doing pretty good business as a brick and mortar location.
    <3 Jim

  • quietman775quietman775

    @Brandi I hear you on the W2. But realistically, being a common law employee means the employer has to pay matching FICA taxes (7.65% of your income), unemployment compensation insurance, and worker's comp premiums. The business would have to price your services at a range that allows them to make a profit after paying these costs, the normal business overhead (rent or mortgage, phones and utilities, etc.) and your income. They'd end up pricing themselves out of business, since they'd be an order of magnitude more expensive than a typical indie cuddle pro on a site like this. Just thinking out loud.

  • JRoseJRose

    I have already been fantasizing about opening a cuddle cafe in Minneapolis. Maybe include a nap space with other "self care" therapies mixed in... Health food, aroma therapy, massage, accupressure... Kitties... Who knows!

  • quietman775quietman775
    edited January 2018

    @JRose that sounds interesting. Maybe the interdisciplinary approach would forestall some of the problems and prejudice encountered by The Snuggle House in Madison, Wisconsin. The place shut down shortly after opening, especially after politicians voiced opinions like " I don't know any man who wants to just snuggle." Here's a press account: https://www.gomn.com/news/wisconsins-new-snuggle-house-may-have-closed

    Day spas that do massages and facials are already a thing, already accepted. Maybe adding cuddles to an existing menu of traditional spa services is the way to go.

  • JRoseJRose

    Exactly @quietman! That's my thought process. Start with some mainstream services to provide a sort of "cuddling gateway," build credibility, trust and awareness. Be unique enough to generate a little buzz and generate interest... I think I heard about that place in WI, but I heard the failure may have been to do with some underlying misconduct along the lines of providing a little more than just cuddling... I think with time, strategic advocacy and proper education, this will be eventually be recognized as the legitimate, highly beneficial form of therapy that it is, easily competing with other mainstream therapy options currently available.

  • [Deleted User]Greybeard (deleted user)

    @JRose I think think you and @quietman may have a route. The skepticism of those not enlightened will be huge. But if the trust your spa services, know that the MTs who have been working there have kept everything professional, you may have a chance of making it. I still think it is shaking enough that I wouldn’t invest, but then, you’re not looking for investors. Best of luck!

  • JRoseJRose

    Thanks! Over the last year, my client base has been growing quite a lot. And I've only been exclusively on this site and have done zero advertising. I think with the right organization, approach and leadership, things could really take off over here. We'll see, all in good time. :-)

  • [Deleted User]DeliMan (deleted user)

    @Greybeard I think y put it perfectly. The inter grating of cuddling into a mainstream spa can do a great service for the profession.

  • salvadanishsalvadanish

    I've gone to a cuddle studio in Portland a couple of times. I appreciate having a place to go to if I'm not fully able to host or comfortable doing so.

    The business owner had a challenging time finding the right space due to cost, concerns from potential property owners, and perceptions from the community, even in a place as progressive as Portland and even after a substantial amount of positive press. Her business is doing well, and she currently employs five other cuddlers as well (including two men), though they relocated to a new space last year.

    As a client, another approach that appeals to me is to have a separate cuddle space in one's own residence, such as a basement studio. This would probably be simpler than leasing a commercial space, though it would probably necessitate owning your home or having an understanding roommate.

  • kuddlykarakuddlykara
    edited January 2018

    my fantasy ideal snuggle sanctum would be like a little gazebo full of fluffy pillows and soft lighting with paper walls near a cherry blossom weeping willow and a little babbling brook.
    but yeah i'd totally do the 1099 or w2 thing.
    the world needs to know about and accept that this is a needed service and the people who provide it are basically angels.
    if society can stop being so narccisitic and egotistical and reconnect with its soft side like compassion and empathy we might actually be able to move forward as a human race.
    it's not cool to be ~soft~ having emotions is ~so gay~ and then someone blows up a school because no one ever hugged them enough.
    touch therapy is a way to cut back on the dissociation society enforces with pharmacuticals and cut throat competition.
    we're all so numb from having to climb on each other's hollow shells to get ahead in life that if we felt empathy for one second we'd probably shoot ourselves.
    the fact that society is inverting itself should be evidence enough that maybe snuggle therapy is legit and i think psychologists need to pimp it and work with cuddle therapists to further their client's emotional completeness. because it's illegal for them to touch you, they can only throw medicine at you and hope it works.
    hugging is medicinal
    and ~back in the day~ the magical underground consisted of bdsm and dominatrixes gave men what their wives and lives couldn't.
    snuggling is replacing that.
    which says a lot about the soul of society.
    you can hookup with anyone you want on the internet but platonic intimacy is foreign and scary.
    and parents stop cudding their kids once they start walking and then they can't cope with emotions.
    and snuggling fixes all that.
    and i would even do it for less money if it meant i had a steady job doing something that doesn't hurt the planet in some horrible way. walmarts and gas stations and fast food is the only "real jobs" i'm "qualified" for but that stuff makes me feel gross as a person. and the world might end soon so school is a gamble i don't want to make. we got people actively killing bees and forests and one another and i'd rather spend my time hugging people who need it most. that's all

  • pmvinespmvines

    @JRose here in Birmingham there is a cuddler, I haven't seen her nor is she on here, but I have seen her advertise sessions out of a massage studio that she shares with a masseuse. Seems like a good idea as the two are similar in function

  • Fredrick_HugsFredrick_Hugs

    @I_am_Polylover Actually Jim, Jean and Fei use their own places for their paid sessions or do house calls. They hold their public Cuddle Sanctuary events at a yoga studio which they rent for the occasion. As big as Los Angeles is, there isn't enough business to cover the prohibitively expensive rent that would be required for a cuddle business in a brick and mortar studio.

  • I_am_PolyloverI_am_Polylover

    @Fredrick_Hugs Thank you for that information.
    <3 Jim

  • calineurcalineur

    I regularly cuddle with my massage therapist. In fact, I have done it with more than one (I won't go into how many, but let's just say that probably the majority of the massage therapists would rather do cuddling than do a massage0.
    Maybe eventually the parlor can be converted.
    What is more likely, however, is that the whole cuddle concept be absorbed by the massage service industry, where the customer is given an option to either get a massage, cuddle, or both (which is what I always do already!)

  • TaliskerfrogTaliskerfrog

    Im from NZ, really struggling to find a cuddler over here. If there was a brick and mortar place over here i could just go too, id be all up for it, and funnily enough myself and a mate were talking about it last night for this very reason. I am glad to see that we are not the only ones wondering this

  • TaliskerfrogTaliskerfrog

    @kuddlykara If you were over here in NZ id have you employed - either in my line of work (health and safety) so you feel like you are doing something, or as my personal cuddler cos you sound awesome

    Stay positive and heal the world one hug at a time ;)

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