Lake Elsinore businesswomen score roadshow deal with Costco

By: AARON CLAVERIE - Staff Writer | Saturday, February 16, 2008 10:28 PM PST ∞

WILDOMAR ---- Tires, racks of ribs, family-size jars of mayonnaise and hardcover copies of the latest John Grisham bestseller.

When people hear the word "Costco," glamour might not be the first thing that comes to mind.

Two Lake Elsinore businesswomen, owners of a day spa in Wildomar, are trying to change that.

The women, Kelly Singelyn and Suzanne Bitz, recently finalized a deal with the Washington state-based bulk retailer to sell their makeup line and their skin care products during special "roadshow" events. The first roadshow is scheduled at the Burbank Costco later this month and a roadshow at the Temecula Costco is in the works.

The roadshow will consist of a salon-styled booth, covered in Chanel-inspired black silk and surrounded by studio chairs for guests, set up inside the store. Either Singelyn or Bitz, and some associates, will offer makeovers and skin care product demonstrations at the salon, which will be set up during weekends or staffed for longer shows that will run 10 days.

Women visiting the salon during a shopping trip will be pampered, Singelyn said. They will get the same attentive customer service visitors to their spa receive.

"We try to give people three times as much for the same price of other salons. We try to make the experience affordable for people in their everyday life," Singelyn said.

Michelle Rios, a sales representative and special events coordinator who helped secure the Costco deal, said the salon will be an oasis for women who are harried by the demands of raising children, working and/or taking care of the house.

"We want this," said the Lake Elsinore resident. "We want glamour. We want products that make us feel good."

Rios, who also works with some local electronics companies, has worked with the women for four years. She's been a client and a fan of their products for five years.

It has taken some of her electronics clients almost a decade to get their products into stores while it took Singelyn and Bitz about seven months to broker the deal with Costco, Rios said.

If the product didn't work or if it wasn't a good value, Costco wouldn't have closed the deal, Rios said.

"It's amazing," Singelyn said. "It was our first time ever approaching a retailer and there are a lot of companies to choose from."

During the seven months the women pursued the Costco deal, there were numerous meetings, a visit to the company's Seattle-area headquarters and product tests conducted by Costco buyers, the three women said during a recent interview at their spa on Palomar Road in Wildomar ---- Jolie Day Spa and Wellness.

The 18 types of skin care products sold during the events will be from the "Joli Visage" line that Singelyn and Bitz have been selling at the spa. They also will be offering their rejuvenating make-up line, which contains anti-oxidants and vitamins.

Finetuning their skin care products, which have evolved in the last six years based on input from their clientele, involved hours of research, six or seven days a week, Singelyn said.

The products, infused with ingredients such as Hawaiian algae peptides and Indian gooseberry extracts, were designed to take advantage of the growing market for clinical-strength skin care products. The products include the highest percentage of active ingredients that can be offered without a prescription.

"Women are savvy," Singelyn said. "They're disgruntled with products that don't work. They're tired of hype."

Because the products are being offered at Costco, customers can expect affordable products similar to anti-aging creams and emulsions sold by Sephora or M.A.C., Rios said.

Singelyn, 45, and Bitz, 49, met at a Temecula esthetician school in 2001 and immediately bonded.

"We share a passion for skin and skin treatments," Bitz said.

After leaving the school, the pair opened a spa in Lake Elsinore in 2002. One of the first products they developed and sold was a skin cream they stored in a refrigerator.

"Ah, the early days," Bitz said, smiling.

Working with chemists and industry contacts they met at the school, the women's product line became more sophisticated. They listened to customers and if something didn't work, they went in a new direction.

They moved to their current Wildomar location in 2004, converting a white house that had been used as a real estate office into a homey spa.

One of the spa's most popular products is "Exceptionelle Yeux Se'rum," an eye-firming lotion that reduces the puffiness under a woman's eyes.

"We sell out of it as soon as we get in a new shipment," Bitz said.

It also was one of the products that helped seal the deal with the Costco buyers, they said.

Before sitting down for an interview, Bitz escorted one of the spa's longtime clients to the back for some treatment. The Costco deal was brought up in the conversation and the client, Jeanne McKeever, of Wildomar, marveled at just how far the women have come.

"I'm so proud of you guys," McKeever said.

Contact staff writer Aaron Claverie at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or aclaverie@californian.com.

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