MASSAGES AT HAND.

Byline: RETAIL By Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

It started as an online business, but has graduated to the most personal of touches with its customers - massage.

BodyJaz - which continues to sell massage and relaxation products through its Web site (www. bodyjaz.com) - opened its first bricks-and-mortar retail outlet in February at the Woodfield Station shopping center at 29th Avenue and Willamette Street in Eugene.

The store has since added five massage therapists to its three-person retail sales staff and is in the process of opening its own massage center in a space at the rear of the store. An "education center" under construction upstairs will carry books and videos - as well as instruction space - on topics including massage, Pilates and the therapeutic use of essential oils.

"It's a very hands-on, friendly store," manager Amy Erenberger says. "We want people to be able to try, and touch, everything we carry. "It's the only store of its kind in Oregon, that we know of."

For now, anyway.

Owner Ron Tinsley is planning to expand, first by adding another Eugene outlet at an as-yet undetermined location, and then by offering franchises in other cities.

"It's mainly because of the fact massage has become mainstream," Tinsley says. "It's pretty hard to watch television or read the newspapers any more without seeing something about massage."

Tinsley knows a little bit about the massage business. His Custom Craftworks has been making high-end massage tables for more than 10 years. And he also owns Valley Technology, which offers a line of patient-positioning devices for medical professionals.

"What we're doing (at BodyJaz) is creating a really clean, professional environment that can be duplicated," Tinsley says. "Hopefully, anywhere in the country, somebody can walk in off the street to a BodyJaz franchise and know they can get a good massage and not have to pay an arm and a leg for it."

All the franchises also will carry the same retail products - items such as tables, face rests and oils for massage therapists, as well as everything from cold packs to relaxation pads to eye pillows for more casual customers.

"BodyJaz actually started out as a catalog and Internet site," Tinsley says. "As we started integrating companies, it made sense to go retail. It allows us to contract with some of our suppliers and maintain the quality. We're going for the top end - a continuation of how Custom Craftworks has always been."

The BodyJaz outlet at Woodfield Station is located next-door to Hollywood Video at the southeast corner of the shopping center.

"We took over in probably November and started construction," Erenberger says. "It's been completely overhauled."

She estimates that remodeling costs have reached about $100,000.

The retail store is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. The massage center will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

Joe Mosley can be reached at [e-mail] or 338-2384.