By Garland Pollard
The innovator of the modern day spa, Georgette Klinger, is back in business, and the Klinger family is back in ownership, with Kathryn Klinger, Georgette’s daughter, as CEO.
Plenty of people were mad when Georgette Klinger, the beloved beauty brand, shut down its Georgette Klinger spas. The fashion website www.racked.com had a sad story on it. At the time it closed (and with 11 salons across the country), the company Klinger Advanced employed about 300 people.
The chain was founded in New York in 1941 by Georgette Klinger, with a salon on Madison Avenue. It grew into one of those quintessential New York experiences, and for generations, ladies would even take their daughters for facials, and to learn that good skin was not about makeup, but overall health. In the age of Charles of the Ritz glamour, Klinger sold health. The family sold out in 1988; at the time the sales were in $20 million range, according to the Klinger release.
Other brands comparable include Elizabeth Arden, Erno Lazlo and Clinique; Klinger’s was unique because she took a medical approach. Her ultimate goal was the health of skin, and beauty was a by product. The brand ultimately saw plastic surgeons and dermatologists go into the spa business, further confirmation that her approach was sound.
In the 1950s, there was a quality of life that was expected for all people. It wasn’t luxury. Today, a spa experience is sold as something for rich people, and it is often tacky and mixed in with ersatz Eastern religion, waterfalls and incense. The genius of Klinger was a democratic and clinical approach:
- When you checked in in New York, there wasn’t any sizing you up when you walked in the door. It built this elitist reputation, but it was very affordable and patrons could go “a la carte” with services they needed.
- They were very specific about what you needed and were not aggressive about upselling selling product or treatment.
- The clientele made it feel elitist, but it never was.
- The salons weren’t full of competing products. In recent years, Klinger did a BIG no-no and sold other brands like Yonkers, N.Y.-based DDF, which were not part of the Klinger experience.
The family will first release Georgette Klinger’s skincare products; they will now be available across the country and not just in salons. According to a release, Georgette Klinger’s daughter, Kathryn Klinger, and grandson, Trevor Belton, are re-releasing a line of serious skincare products.
“We are so thrilled to have the Georgette Klinger skincare line back in the family,” said Trevor Belton, President of Georgette Klinger, in a press release.
That’s the understatement of the year.
We can’t imagine how it would feel to have your mother and grandmother’s name dragged through bankruptcy, but we know fans of the brand are thrilled that it is back. It takes a long time for a company to ruin a brand, and it will take some time to bring it back. But thank goodness the family got control again.
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19 responses so far ↓
1 Georgette Klinger Return Update | BrandlandUSA™ // Dec 19, 2008 at 9:41 am
[...] NEW YORK – We have had a number of requests for information on Georgette Klinger, the New York salon brand. It closed down, and we wrote that the family is in the process of rebuilding the company in a post called Georgette Klinger is Back. [...]
2 Sue Chicone // Mar 23, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Please tell me how I can find Klinger products. I have used your products for forty years and am having with drawal from not being able to find them. Thank you.
orangegrove@embarqmail.com
3 BarbaraGoldberg // Mar 25, 2009 at 9:54 pm
So if Georgette Klinger Products are really back
WHERE CAN I BUY THEM????????????????
You keep saying they’re back, but don’t say where?
I repeat
WHERE CAN ONE BUY THEM if they are truly back???????????????
4 Mary // May 9, 2009 at 7:44 pm
I want a 30 year supply of Wash Off Cream #1. When is the family going to offer this product again???????!!!!!!!!!
Mary
5 Edith Tarbescu // Oct 18, 2010 at 3:33 pm
I’ve never had a facial, in or out of NY, that matched ones at Georgette Klinger. I routinely bought 5 facials each August and received one free. It wasn’t about the money, though, it was about the magical hands of the facialists and their East European accents. I was transported to another place and another time.
Viva Mme Klinger’s daughter.
6 Henriettta Waters // Nov 8, 2010 at 7:07 pm
I have missed the Georgette Klinger facials, and massages, but most of all I miss Virtual Perfection Face Cream.
I’m delighted to hear that Georgette Klinger is back in business. Has the company re-established a New York location or may I order their products on line?
7 JSB // Nov 13, 2010 at 11:30 pm
When and where are these products going to be available? I am running out of the Cod Liver Oil mask and who else would possibly make such a product??
8 vlad // Dec 25, 2010 at 10:15 am
hello !!! ppls if any of you found new address of Georgette Klinger let me know
tthanks
9 Sheri. Carter // Apr 5, 2011 at 2:55 pm
Collagen. Cream. By. Georgette. Klinger
10 Yuliya Kolomoets // Oct 24, 2011 at 5:16 pm
What the address Georgette Klinger salon in New York?
Thanks, Yuliya Kolomoets
11 jon marshall // May 15, 2012 at 8:55 am
i am seekijg a bottle of georgette Klinger’s perfume or cologne named Kathryn i hqvre tried for several years to find it vam you tell me ahere i might find it
12 Roberta // Jun 19, 2012 at 8:09 am
Georgette Klinger saved me from the beginning of acne when I was a young woman. I was cured with treatment and then a faithful facial customer till she closed. Where is the new salon going to be in NYC. I will travel from Rockland County in a heartbeat!
13 Garland Pollard // Jun 22, 2012 at 7:55 pm
It still hasnt happened yet and it has been a few years since I wrote the post. I wish I had more information.
14 Jan // Jul 4, 2012 at 2:38 pm
I still have my $100 gift card. would like to use it if they ever get back into business. Anyone want to buy it?
15 Margaret // Jan 3, 2013 at 6:53 pm
Klinger facials and products were a part of my life for 30 years! Kathryn ! Please come back. Your perfume was fantastic. I’m sure there are thousands of former customers like me who would immediately buy your products again
16 Gladys Gonzalez // Apr 6, 2013 at 3:27 pm
I too miss the Kathryn perfume.
17 Vicky // Apr 10, 2013 at 8:35 am
To Garland Pollard: Could you ask Kathryn or Trevor where they are in the process? Did they give up? Someone can buy the formalas and start — as Georgette did — in a kitchen mixing up small batches. They would sell months ahead. This would be a gold mine if handled properly. Perfume, face washes and cremes and MY FOUNDATION!!
18 Candy // May 22, 2013 at 5:23 am
I am just now finishing my last jar of make-up remover and am lost! Where do I turn after using this Klinger product for over 3o years???
19 Janet Wright // Jun 9, 2013 at 3:01 pm
Help…I have been searching all over.. I need the hand creme and wash-off make up remover!! My skin has never been the same .. I miss Yana at the Galleria!!!
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