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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Business Focus: Full service spa opens in Rathdrum


Jennifer Hansen is the owner of The Brugge Salon and Spa in Rathdrum. 
 (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)
Jacob Livingston Correspondent

RATHDRUM – The house near the outer edge of Rathdrum may indicate a run-of-the-mill residence from the outside, but its light pink and wine-red exterior hides an Old World secret: a salon and spa modeled after a classic European city.

The Brugge (pronounced brew-zh, as in “garage”) Salon and Spa opened its doors in June after an extensive transformation inside.

New owner and massage therapist Jennifer Hansen turned the house, once home to the business Beauty Details, into her vision of ultimate relaxation by replicating the Belgian city from which the business gets its name.

“It was my favorite city in Belgium,” the 31-year-old Hansen said of the historic capital’s classic architecture, preserved medieval character and winding waterways that have earned it the nickname “Venice of the North.”

“It was just a comfortable, warm feeling there,” she said. “That’s kind of how I modeled this place. … I wanted it to be a unique place, romantic and comfortable.”

This isn’t the first business venture for Hansen. She began her entrepreneurial career in Coeur d’Alene by opening Hansen Therapeutic Massage after having moved from California to North Idaho two years ago.

“This just happened to be the right place, I think,” she recalled about her decision to move to the Lake City. “It’s such a beautiful area.”

With a catalog of clients keeping the original business up and running, Hansen focused on expanding the original spa concept. When the now-defunct Beauty Details went on the market, the highway-adjacent house in Rathdrum presented the perfect place for Hansen to set up shop.

“My massage office taught me a lot,” she said while seated in the European-decorated front entrance to Brugge. “This is kind of a bigger version of that place.”

After the interior of the house had been gutted, its floors replaced and a room torn out, the Brugge business gradually took shape.

The shop carries antiques, salon products, vitamins and, of course, Belgian chocolates.

“We pretty much started from scratch,” the owner said.

With employees from the former salon on board, the Brugge Salon and Spa staff has grown to a total of eight, including an aesthetician, a nail tech, two massage therapists, a reflexologist and two hairdressers.

Many customers have carried over from Beauty Details, while a handful followed Hansen from her Coeur d’Alene shop.

Marie Phillips is a grateful client who frequents the new full-service Rathdrum salon.

As a once-pained patient in search of a helpful masseuse, she met Hansen as a client at her Coeur d’Alene shop and has been a devoted fan ever since. Once Brugge opened, it made it easier on the Spirit Lake resident by decreasing her drive.

“I was delighted because it’s made it nice to be able to go to one place for your services instead of going from place to place,” Phillips said. “She (Hansen) has done a great job with it, and she’s made it very comfortable.”

And, a revitalized Phillips added, “if you need a massage, she’s probably the best you can go to.”

As the only full-service spa in Rathdrum, Brugge has plenty of room to grow along with the surrounding city, Hansen says. As for now, she adds, the people of Rathdrum Prairie have warmly received her business.

“So far, it’s kind of neat,” Hansen said. “I’ve found that it is a really nice community that wants to spend their money in town, rather than go somewhere else.”