Picture this: You’ve arrived home after a long day of work. You plop down on the couch to unwind, only to start massaging the tension in your neck. The soreness of your feet didn’t seem to bother you until you sat down.
You could use a day of relaxation.
Not to worry, Joseph Gaglioti and the staff at Joseph Anthony Retreat Spa and Salon will take care of you.
“We've always tried to be the best in customer service,” said Joe. “That's a continuing pursuit, and it's always ever-evolving.” He knows that customers' wants and needs change over time.
Joe has been cutting and styling hair for over 20 years and has witnessed the growth and change in the industry firsthand. “We traveled quite a bit, looking at different resort spas, and really wanted to do something very different in the spa world,” explained Joe.
The biggest challenge wasn’t opening the facility, but rather getting customers to use the spa. “Everybody at that time thought, ‘Oh, I'm gonna go get my nails done,’ and that was a 'spa experience.' Getting people to get into a mud bath or a steam room that rained on top of you was a very difficult task to do,” Joe described.
He began educating clients, showing that the spa is more than getting a massage; it’s creating an experience. “We start every spa service out with a complimentary foot bath. We try to have a lot of amenities: snacks, cappuccino, expresso—we do fresh baked cookies every day,” he said. “Those little touches we feel really help define what we do.”
The Retreat Spa and Salon didn’t start with Joe. His father is a hairstylist as well. Even his grandmother had a salon in her home in Delaware County. Joe found his passion and love for styling hair while working in the salon.
This passion and dedication produced three locations: a flagship in Glen Mills, where he and his father first started in 2007, another at the Springfield Country Club, opened in 2015, and their venture at the Loews Hotel in Center City, opened in 2019. What's unique about each of these locations is the different services they provide.
“In our Springfield and our Center City locations, we have Turkish baths, which are these beautiful tiled rooms; they have beds, they have benches, they have fiber optic lights. The room steams; it rains from the ceiling,” Joe explained. “It is a complete experience to enhance your massage or your facial.”
The Glen Mills location will be receiving a Turkish bath in late 2024 or early 2025.
The spas also include services such as the Soft Pack Float, which starts with a gentle body exfoliation treatment and ends with a wrap treatment while floating on the soft pack system in a pressure-free cushion of water. They also offer a number of massages and facials provided by their experienced massage therapists and estheticians.
Each location also has a brine salt inhalation room where customers can sit and relax after they've had their massages. Joe noted that it's great for your respiratory system.
Joe reflected on his first days. “I remember the first week of working. Somebody pulled up in a tractor, parked the tractor in front of the salon, and was like, ‘Can I get my hair cut?’ I was like, ‘I couldn't believe that somebody pulled up in a tractor’, and back then it was country out in that area,” said Joe with a laugh.
“At first, I'm like, ‘What am I doing here?’ I didn't want to be in the country.” After some time, Joe began to fall in love with the place and even considers himself a “Delco guy'. "The people, I think, are very different here. They all band together; it's the area I feel has grown really well. Especially in the Glen Mills area. I've met some of my best friends here.”
Joe and the staff at Joseph Anthony Retreat Spa and Salon will take care of you
It's a complete experience to enhance your service
