There’s a new and potentially soothing store coming to Rodin Place in Logan Square. This month, members of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association voted to not to oppose franchisees application to open a Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa at 2000 Hamilton St., via email. Plans are for a September opening, but before that renovations must occur.

The store

“Everything is honky dory,” said LSNA zoning chair Ed Panek. Panek explained LSNA members voted via email because the Hand & Stone franchisees applied for an accelerated ZBA hearing without realizing that hearing might occur before they had a chance for the board to vote.

Franchisees presented to near neighbors on May 31, according to the LSNA website, but were scheduled to appear before the ZBA before the LSNA’s June meeting. According to Panek, as soon as the owners realized their oversight they acted in a conscientious manner and executed the necessary actions to legitimize their application and meet with the board. The parties drafted a Neighborhood Development Agreement that list provisions for the standard issues such as noise, parking, lighting, hours, and trash removal. According to Panek, neighbors were happy with what they saw.

Looking at the space from the south

Hand & Stone operates one other store in Center City, located at 1425 Locust St., and dozens of locations across the country, so the franchise clearly operates based on a stable business model. It takes the place of the former Hollywood Video, which closed a few years back as advances in technology placed videos in our hands via smartphones and granted unprecedented free access to movies.

PSC and Whole Foods in the shopping center

Perhaps the folks in City View condominiums across the street will come in for a Swedish massage, or maybe the work-out types after a visit to Philadelphia Sports Club (PSC) on the back end of the building, or maybe even the Whole Foods (right next to PSC) types who need the tension rubbed away before buying their organic kumquats.

“We’re very happy with the people who are going to run it,” said Panek.

–Lou Mancinelli