Westgate Mall attack gives birth to successful spa business

A client at a spa. PHOTO | FILE  

By Annie Njanja

In Summary

• Luckily, all Lintons staff escaped unhurt, but any hopes they had of quickly resuming work came crashing down with the mall at the end of a three-day siege. The reality that they were jobless was too much to handle.

Members of Premium Ventures, a business club (chama) were contented employees of Lintons Beauty World Spa branch at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi. The outlet was busy and the money apparently good. Life was just peachy. But when the diligent beauty therapists reported for work on September 21 last year, little did they expect to be caught up in a terror attack.

When trouble started, they dismissed it as a robbery that would be swiftly dealt with by mall security. But they soon discovered they were in the midst of unprecedented attack on the popular shopping facility by the al-Shabaab militants.

Luckily, all Lintons staff escaped unhurt, but any hopes they had of quickly resuming work came crashing down with the mall at the end of a three-day siege. The reality that they were jobless was too much to handle.

“I wallowed in self-pity for a while as I thought that life was so unfair since my wedding was in a month’s time. But I needed to keep pushing on because life had to continue,” said Judith Mwangi, one of the affected staff.

The employees tried to convince their boss to look for premises in Westlands and set up a new outlet to retain their former clients. But the employer had different plans and transferred the more than 20 workers to another branch. However, 11 of them, who had formed the chama and became close friends found it difficult to adapt to their new environment.

“We were to start all over again by building a new clientele base and finding space in an already crowded place,” said Premium Ventures chairman Joe Thuo. “It made no economic sense to make Sh800 in two weeks. I ended up quitting.”

In one chama meeting, Mr Thuo suggested they open a spa in Westlands.

“Everyone thought he was crazy. How were we supposed to set up a high-end spa with no source of income or equipment? The little we had saved was only enough to pay rent for a month,” said Esther Wangui, the group’s cashier. “But he assured us that we had the expertise and the will, and that is all that was needed.”

Some members opposed the idea even after the majority voted in favour of it. Eventually, three members dropped out, taking their savings with them. The eight who remained had saved Sh660,000 but they needed much more to set up a decent spa.

In October last year, they secured a loan from Rafiki Microfinance Bank where they had opened a chama savings account.

“Our consistency in depositing money must have worked in our favour because they gave us an unsecured loan which was five times our savings,” said Mr Thuo, who is also the chief executive of Premium Ventures Limited, the mother company of the spa.

“It was a big relief when it came through because our fate depended on it.”

The team, which also includes Emily Makena, Mary Nyokabi, Joan Nyokabi, Naima Wanjiku and Pauline Karugi, hit the ground running.
While others were busy setting up the outlet, four members of the chama travelled to Dubai to buy equipment. Everything was finally looking up and by November, Premier Beauty Lounge was launched at Krishna Centre in Westlands.

Their solid relations with former clients played out in favour of the business that quickly picked up. Last month, they moved to a bigger space in the same building to allow for holistic services that include hair grooming, body treatment and massage — a milestone that Ms Nyokabi, who doubles up as the spa manager, said was reached due to good services and referrals by word of mouth.

On average, they serve more than 50 clients a week, which required that they hire four additional staff. Learning from Westgate experience, the group is insuring their business against terrorism and fire. They are also repaying the three-year loan with each member contributing Sh20,000 a month.