Columbus Business Journal - First clinic open in Columbus Ohio

View on http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus here

By Dan Eaton on May 21, 2013

Massage Envy operator adding Joint chiropractic clinics

A Massage Envy franchisee is taking a crack at the chiropractor business. Chad Warner owns four of the massage chain's operations in Central Ohio, but is the first to sign up with the Joint, a chiropractic care chain founded by John Leonesio, founder and former CEO of Massage Envy.

The clinic opened this month at 845 Bethel Road in Columbus near one of Warner's Massage Envy sites.

"The businesses go hand-in-hand," Warner told me, no pun intended.

Massage Envy made wellness massage more accessible and acceptable for the general public, Warner said, and he hopes the Joint will do the same for maintenance-based chiropractic care.

"(Massage Envy) brought in people who never had a massage before," he said.

The Joint is taking a similar approach as Massage Envy: snatching up storefronts and filling them with a modern design that doesn't look like a doctor's office. Warner said being a franchised chain gives consumers a brand they can recognize and consistency among offices.

"We've had 75 people in since May 2," Warner said. "Fifty hadn't been to a chiropractor before."

The Bethel Road office is the first in the Midwest for the Joint, which is concentrated in Arizona, California, Texas and Colorado. The chain was started in 1999 and has 380 sites open or in development.

The chiropractors are licensed and the aim is maintenance-based care. There are no X-rays, and the business does not accept insurance payments. Nor does it handle workers' compensation or personal injury cases.

"What we do is wellness," Warner said. "It's making people feel better."

Warner owns Massage Envy shops in Westerville, Gahanna and Pickerington and is looking for real estate near each where it can open more Joints.