BlueFern Massage Therapy

Update 6/22/20 - Closing Our Doors

After many, many hours of conversation, research, number-crunching and gut-checking, we have made the very difficult decision to close our doors permanently.  With all of the dizzying factors that played a role in our decision, the safety of our clients and therapists was at the top of the list. 

As you may know, massage practices across Massachusetts are now eligible to reopen, and some massage therapists will start seeing clients soon.  In some cases, that may turn out to be fine, but we simply don’t feel it’s safe enough yet.  We have never wanted to be more wrong about something. We sincerely hope that our colleagues can practice without incident and keep themselves and their clients safe. Our industry is reeling and we are all trying to make decisions about the future based on rapidly changing information and emerging data. Ultimately, each practitioner has to weigh the risks and decide how to proceed.

Unfortunately, our work ticks all the high risk check boxes, most notably prolonged very close contact in an enclosed room. We would love nothing more than to get back to providing the comfort of massage after these many stressful months. We love our work. We love being able to help. We know that, especially now, we are all craving therapeutic touch.  However, in addition to the considerable general risks that massage poses at this time, we serve many clients who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 complications. This is not something we can fully screen for or disinfect against and therefore we can’t work without putting you and our therapists at significant risk. 

In all of this one thing remains clear: massage is not something we can figure out as we go, knowing that COVID-19 is highly communicable, sometimes silent, and potentially deadly.

In addition to these practical safety issues, we’ve had to consider the significant financial impact of the past few months while we’ve floated our operating expenses without an income.  Looking ahead, we see the prospect of at least several more months of this, as well as the possibility of future closures down the road.  Even when it’s safer to reopen, we would most likely need to limit our schedule, while incurring additional costs to implement all of the necessary safety measures.  Basically, we are stuck in an impossible place.  We can’t safely reopen yet and it’s not financially sustainable for us to wait any longer, let alone to operate with reduced income and increased expenses whenever it does become possible. 

This business has been a labor of love, built 11+ years ago from one room shared by just the two of us, to a multi-therapist establishment with an impressive pool of clients, many of whom have been with us since the beginning. Many of you have checked in to applaud our cautious approach or just to say hello. We have felt your goodwill and support during this difficult time. Thank you for that. It has meant the world to us.

While we are sad to be closing our doors, we’re very happy to share that Cathy Thomason of the Great Way Wellness Center (where our practice was co-located for the first 10 years) will be taking over our lovely office space starting sometime in August, offering Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. You can visit Cathy’s website or email her at [email protected] for more information. 

We don’t know what the future holds, but we are sending many good thoughts for your continued health, safety and wellness.  We hope to see you down the road.

 

With gratitude,

Erika & Jen