Couple pick massage service over moving away

by Dave Alexander
MLive.com

The Massage Garden blends a local couple's longtime passion for massage with a touch of economic desperation.

Whatever the motivations that brought first-time business owners Phil and Donna Cronk of Twin Lake to a kiosk in The Lakes Mall, customers seem thrilled at getting a comprehensive 15-minute chair massage as a break from a hectic world.

"I try to get there once a week," said Brent Beckstrom, a Fruitport sales manager. "I noticed them in November. It's a relaxing massage and it's reasonable. I miss it if I don't go."

Relief from the pressures of shopping or other daily chores costs $15 and no appointments are needed at the Massage Garden, located in the mall concourse between Di's Hallmark and Victoria's Secret. Massage Garden offers fully-clothed, hands-on chair massages of the neck, shoulders, back, arms, hands and fingers.

"We have brought something different to the mall," said Donna Cronk, who opened the business in October and has survived beyond the Christmas shopping season. "We are finding that we are a destination, not just attracting mall shoppers."

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