Whiskey-infused pedicure? Upscale men’s grooming spa opens in downtown Macon

Meet Geleesa Denton of Macon, a 31-year-old entrepreneur who recently opened her own business in downtown Macon.

MANicured Men’s Spa is an upscale men’s grooming spa at 486 Poplar St. that offers manicures, pedicures, haircuts and shoe shines.

A Chicago native and a 2020 Clark Atlanta University graduate, Denton said she’s had the idea for the men’s spa for over a decade. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing.

A tailored fit

She was inspired by Jeju Sauna, a Korean traditional bath house spa in Duluth near Atlanta.

“It has a men’s side and a women’s side and it’s really beautiful with all these different saunas and has like a workout room. You get your nails done. They have a little restaurant, and I really love that concept of being able to go in and get like full body scrubs,” she said.

Denton saw the opportunity to do something like that in Macon but on a much smaller scale. She tailored her original idea to be more realistic for what she could afford and what would best fit downtown.

“I just saw the opportunity to open that here, and again, making the idea actually realistic,” she said. “Trying to get financing for a huge location with separate sides and adding in water features and things like that — just my yearly salary versus (what) I would have needed for that — just wasn’t going to work out.”

She kept narrowing down the concept until she came up with “the idea that that made more sense” — a men’s only grooming spa.

“I could fit that into a smaller facility and just have a little bit more fun with the idea itself,” Denton said. “So that’s kind of how it started off as one thing and just developed over time to what it is now.”

Her vision

Her vision for the spa was to create an oasis where men can relax and enjoy all of their grooming treatments in one place.

Her “indulgent and curative treatments” — as billed on the business website — include some unusual pedicures: the Brewski, beer-infused, the Whiskey Angel, whiskey-infused, and the Crowned Royal, gold-infused with the promise of a GIA certified diamond.

A diamond, really?

“There’s a gold bath bomb that we use and the diamond is in a small container inside of the bath bomb,” Denton said. “So, when you drop it in the water, it’ll dissolve. And then there’ll be the little container with the diamond inside and it’s a certified diamond.”

Denton chose those three specialty pedicures because she wanted to offer something unique.

She also offers traditional pedicures from the Classic, which is “just the basics,” to the Arch Agent with spearmint eucalyptus.

A complimentary beverage is also served with each service.

With a little help

When she was 15, Denton went to cosmetology school for 2-½ years at the urging of her late grandfather, Morris Jones Sr., who also put her through the program.

“He wanted to be sure that I had a skill set throughout my life where I wouldn’t have to struggle or figure out how it’s going to pay my bills,” she said.

But Denton doesn’t run the day-to-day operations at the spa. She said she intentionally envisioned a business she could develop but let others manage for her.

In addition to opening her new business, Denton just started a new full-time job as a service coordinator for Control Southern in Macon. She also has a side-hustle as a notary.

Her dad, Eric Denton, oversees the spa, and he shines the shoes. He also put in the floors and painted the interior of the new business. Her uncle and his brother, Robert Simmons, installed the pedicure chairs.

“He just helps me out in that aspect because you know, he’s my dad, and he wants to see it do well,” Denton said. “He’s volunteered his services to help me out.

“He also helped me put together the entire place. So, it would not be the way it is without him. It would not look the way it looks without him and his brother. There’s no way I could have gotten this done without them; very thankful for their help.”

Her other employee, Marissa Marshall, does the manicures and pedicures. Geleesa Denton plans to hire additional employees, including a barber to provide haircuts, shaves, line ups and beard trims.

NewTown Macon

When Denton started doing research to turn her vision into a reality, she reached out to NewTown Macon, a nonprofit that focuses on economic development and revitalizing Downtown Macon.

“When I reached out to them, they liked the idea and they asked me to apply for the Downtown Diversity Initiative,” she said.

An entrepreneurial training program hosted annually by NewTown Macon and the Macon-Middle Georgia Black Pages, the DDI’s aim is to increase the number of Black-owned businesses in downtown Macon.

“So I applied and got accepted into the course last summer, and from there, they helped me kind of develop the idea to see what, you know, could it work, what would that look like, day-to-day operations kind of thing and really flushed the idea out as if it was already happening,” Denton said.

To her surprise, Denton said, she was one of five winners of the $5,000 DDI grant, which allowed for her to have some sort of equity involved when she applied for the loan for the business.

“Geleesa’s pitch during the Downtown Diversity Initiative was very thorough,” according to Ricardo Cordew, business consultant at NewTown Macon. “She communicated proof of concept and accurate financial projections. She convinced the judges that downtown Macon is ready for a men’s only spa and now her dream is a reality.”

The male grooming market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of about 6% by 2030, according to Custom Market Insights.

The spa delivers a “totally new experience and type of business to the downtown market,” according to Lauren Mauldin, NewTown’s vice president for community development.

Having worked with NewTown Macon over the last few months, Denton said she knew even before her DDI presentation was approved where she wanted to locate her business.

“It really just kind of went from there with design elements and crafting the menu, finding a way to make it special and unique, and you know, an actual experience; something to do. And now here we are.”

The men’s spa opened Feb. 4.

‘Relaxed and at ease’

“It’s starting to pick up,” Denton said. “Nobody’s storming the door down just yet. But I think once more people hear about it and once more men realize that this space exists for them and they come in they have a great service.

“You know, they get a whiskey infused pedicure while drinking some whiskey or have a beer infused pedicure with orange slices and you know, everything smells all lovely and they feel relaxed and at ease, I think they’ll start to come back. So I’m hoping for new customers and repeat customers right now. But so far, it’s been good. I can’t complain.”

Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday through Monday. Services may be booked online. Walk-ins also are currently accepted. The number is 478-254-0220.