Published: November 24, 2007 04:01 am         

Shop Talk

Shop Talk is a weekly column featuring locally owned and operated businesses. This week, we talk to Lisa Stanton and Beth Ruffino, owners of The Body Shoppe in Oneonta.

________

Tell me about your business:

Lisa Stanton: One of my ideas was to have a one-stop body shop, which is where the name came from. People are so busy, and you try to squeeze things in on your lunch break _ you're running all over the place to get your nails done, to go to the gym, and I thought we could have all of those things under one roof.

Beth Ruffino: We have nails, a hair studio, massage, reflexology and waxing, plus the fitness and tanning.

It's changed a little bit since we opened _ now we have Spinning six days a week, we have kickboxing, aerobics, senior fitness classes, and we're adding things all the time.

How did you get started in this line of work?

Ruffino: When Lisa owned Time to Tan on Dietz Street, I happened to be out running one day and I walked in to ask if I could put up signs about personal training, because I was certified as a personal trainer, and we got to talking.

Stanton: I had thought about opening up a gym, and she comes in asking about personal training, so I said, "If you're serious about this, give me a call and we'll talk about it."

Ruffino: I called her the next day, and the rest is history.

Stanton: We hadn't planned to buy a building _ we wanted to rent, but we wanted to stay close to downtown, and when this became available, it was a good opportunity.

Ruffino: We had looked at the gym part (of this building) and ended up buying it.

Stanton: In my mind, I could see how we wanted the building to look, but it was a lot of work. It used to be a Buick dealership, so some of the building was just bare bones and concrete floors, so we had to figure everything out. We got out our graph paper and pencils, and just figured it all out.

Ruffino: Originally, we opened up as a women's-only gym, but that lasted about two weeks. We had all these guys coming in, and we're turning them away, so it just didn't make sense.

We did a lot of the work ourselves _ painting, trim, wallpaper _ so that way (the contractors) couldn't complain that anything was holding them up.

Where do you see this business in five years?

Stanton: I see the business growing.

Ruffino: We have so much fun taking different fitness classes and learning new things together. When we were going to learn Spinning, we went and took a class, and after the first one, I almost died, I thought, "There's no way I can do this."

Stanton: And I had just had a cast taken off my leg, but I did three hours of Spinning with no problem. So we were hooked.

Ruffino: We're going to get our Pilates certification in December. It's a lot of fun learning new things all the time. We like our customers, we enjoy being here, so I hope in five years, our customer base will grow, we'll offer more services and we'll be able to keep the relationships we have with our customers now.

Stanton: Over Labor Day weekend, we went to being a 24-hour facility. The door has a fingerprint scanner, so it scans your fingerprint and lets you in at any hour of the day. When we used to open at 5:30 a.m., we had a woman who would actually be waiting outside in her car since 4:30 for the place to open. So we could see there was a need for it. Our biggest fear would be the safety aspect, but we decided to try it, and so far everything has gone really well.

Ruffino: And we've got surveillance, we're right downtown, and that's why you have insurance. Plus we know all our customers. It's just the two of us and one other girl who works up front, so we have personal relationships with our customers.

What is the hardest thing you have to do?

Ruffino: Building maintenance. Lisa and I just tarred the roof the other day.

Stanton: It's funny, because it's literally two women who are doing everything around here.

Ruffino: We each have different things we're better at.

Stanton: It's everything from mowing the lawn to blowing the leaves _ we're doing everything.

The most enjoyable?

Stanton: Our members.

Ruffino: We have a huge senior clientele, and it's almost like they are our family. They feel comfortable here, and that makes us feel good.

Stanton: It's also rewarding to see someone who was overweight or not physically fit, who's feeling bad, and they come to you for help and it makes a difference in their life.

What advice would you give to someone trying to enter your field of work?

Stanton: I actually just had this conversation with a client _ she just got her Spinning certification, and she said she was thinking about opening a gym. I said, first, make sure you get certified for any class that you want to teach, and realize that running a gym is not about just the fitness, it's also everything else.

Ruffino: Lisa and I were so excited when we were getting started that we sort of stepped through a lot of mud puddles along the way.

Stanton: But at the same time, I also think a lot of doors opened along the way. But it is hard, and you have to make sure you have the capital to get started, because you're not going to be making a profit right away.

Ruffino: You have got to have a business sense. Lisa's whole background is business and accounting. And if you're not doing those things yourself, make sure you are working with someone who's honest and trustworthy. There's so much that goes into owning as opposed to just opening a business.

Stanton: But if you feel like it's right, you just have to go ahead and do it.

Ruffino: Where there's a will, there's a way. Perseverance is a big thing _ we've said that from the beginning. Just don't let all the little side roads deter you. Look at all the millionaires out there _ if you hear their stories, they all had ups and downs, but they kept going. If you believe in what you're doing, you'll find a way to make it work.

What sets you apart from your competitors?

Stanton: The one-on-one relationships.

Ruffino: Also, I don't know how many people have told us they appreciate how clean we keep things. People are very sensitive to that in a fitness environment, and we get a lot of people commenting on that.

Stanton: Also I think that, because we own the building and we're running the business, we care about it a lot. There's a difference between being an employee and being an owner. We're invested in what we're doing, and I think it shows. Also, we try to keep it affordable.

Ruffino: We're willing to work with people. We really try to do that. To turn someone away for a few dollars isn't worth it, so we might make a deal with someone on their membership. And most of the time, they're so appreciative, renew that membership, so it's worth it.

________

To suggest a business for Shop Talk, contact Emily F. Popek at 432-1000, ext. 255, or epopek@thedailystar.com.