ANDERSONVILLE — People with gift certificates bought at Continuum Studio before the spa closed abruptly in February can relax: Another neighborhood spa has agreed to honor the certificates.
Continuum Studio, 5671 N. Clark St., stopped seeing clients on Feb. 3 after a water heater burst in an apartment above the shop and caused severe water damage that the owners said they were not in financial shape to bounce back from.
Owners Johnnie Grozenski and Paul Hasenwinkel said "we will miss all of you terribly," in a goodbye letter to former customers last week.
But the good news is that Toujours Spa and Salon, 5224 N. Clark St., accepted the owners' "plea to remedy any ill feelings," by accepting gift certificates bought at Continuum "at full face value." And Tojours manager John-Michael Korpal said the spa agreed to the arrangement without receiving any money at all.
"The only way that we're compensated is with the potential of getting a new client," said Korpal, adding that it's also a way of "paying it forward."
He estimated that there were about 225 gift certificates with values that ranged from $50-$300.
There's no telling how many people will redeem the certificates, but at least six people had stepped forward already as of Friday, and Korpal said, "We're getting a really good response."
"People are grateful; You get a gift from somebody but realize you can't use it anymore? That's no fun," he said.
Jessica Hammer, the marketing and member services manager at the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce, called the agreement "a way to maintain the good vibes in the community."
For more information about redeeming gift cards from Continuum, read the message from the owners here.
