Moppet massage: spas offering luxury treatments to well-heeled small fry.

POOLSIDE pedicures at a Beverly Hills hotel has been a wholesome bit of decadence enjoyed by adult women for years.

But now upscale youths--even preschoolers--are getting in on the luxury spa action.

You'd think that such a quintessentially L.A. concept as spa treatments for kids is probably not going to fly in Peoria, or for that matter, Pacoima. But kids' spas are springing up all over Southern California and in many upscale parts of the country. Many kids' spas already are in an expansion mode.

Jeannine Chanin, a managing partner of the Treehouse Social Club in Los Angeles, a restaurant, spa and play space for children, said she is looking to expand to other L.A. County areas, including Calabasas.

"A lot of it is the economics of the area," she said.

That makes such places as Beverly Hills automatic.

"I felt the little ones were neglected so I wanted to create a treatment they could enjoy," said Daisy Tepper, spa director at the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons hotel. The hotel had an age minimum of 16 years for facials and 18 years for any body work, such as massages or scrubs, but it recently began allowing youngsters to get such treatments, as long as a parent is in the room.

But it doesn't have to be a place like Beverly Hills. Given the right locale and demographics, children's' spas are starting to work just about anywhere.

Stephenie Debonis, owner of Monkey Dooz in Riverside, opened her children's spa last November, and was cash-flow positive within the first month. She's now looking for spots to open several new locations.

"I have two girls and I would take them in when I got my pedicures," she said. "The way people look at them, they don't want them in an adult spa. They look down on them."

Monkey Dooz is a 6-year-old franchise based in Kennewick, Wash. The franchise has three locations in Washington, one in Idaho, and one in California- so far.

Debonis' spa offers mini-manicures and pedicures as well as deluxe versions of both treatments, which include more scrubbing and rubbing. Monkey Dooz also does facial treatments, complete with cucumber slices for the eyelids. She charges $50 for her "best friends" package for two girls, which includes an "aloe-pampering" pedicure, soothing cucumber facial, and a pina colada "mocktail."

2-year-old regulars

While Debonis said she has clients as old as 13, she has a number of regular customers who are 2 years old. Debonis said she sees at least 100 children a month, and expects a better turnout at future locations.

According to the International Spa Association, more than 4 million U.S. teens have visited spas. Among girls aged 13 to 19, more than half have visited a spa, while about 30 percent of boys the same age have been. The most popular services by far are manicures, pedicures and massages.

Lynne Walker McNees, president of the International Spa Association, said that part of the kids' spa trend is an effort to teach children and teenagers proper nutrition, skin care and stress management. She cited increasing childhood obesity rates and cases of attention deficit disorder as evidence that children are overworked.

"It's really just taking the time to hit pause, slow down and learn about proper nutrition and skin care," McNees said. "A lot of kids struggle with acne and what to use."

But it's also about fun. Manal Schmutzer of Riverside takes her 4-year-old daughter Hannah to Monkey Dooz for regular manicures, "updo" hair stylings and makeup applications.

Schmutzer said she usually stops by a nearby costume store, lets Hannah pick out an outfit and then takes her to the spa. Her treatments usually total about $35. It's about fun, she said, and letting her daughter feel like a grown up while still looking like a child.

"I think for little girls it's about mimicking their parents and getting made up," she said. Like a number of parents, she made it clear that the emphasis for the girls is on fun, not fashion. "I don't want my daughter in a ton of makeup and high heels."

The trick to Monkey Dooz, Schmutzer said, is that the colors, styles and applications leave the children looking their age, not like beauty pageant competitors.

Mommy and me

Treehouse Social Club owners Chanin and Tricia Leigh Fisher, a daughter of Connie Stevens and Eddie Fisher, rehabbed a building that Fisher's mother bought 10 years ago to serve as a day spa that would complement her line of skincare products, which were sold on the Home Shopping Network.

Tricia took over about three years ago and re-named the location "Nanna's Garden," a restaurant and play space with spa services on the menu for moms. Business was a little too much for Fisher, who got a buy-in offer from Chanin, at that time a customer.

The pair spent a year doing research and holding focus groups on the concept and opened in May, about a month ahead of schedule.

The Treehouse offers monthly and annual memberships for mothers and children to play, browse the retail section, take an art or yoga class, and have a meal in the restaurant area. There's a full spa menu for moms and children to get haircuts, manicures and pedicures.

"We wanted to provide as many services as possible to morns so they can multi-task," Chanin said. "Once you get your kids in the car and get someplace, you don't want to have to move them again. Here you can get online, get a manicure, get your eyebrows waxed, and your kids are happy."

The business is already at the volume the partners had predicted for the first four months. Treehouse has 12 employees, plus independent contractors for the spa services and classes. Chanin and Fisher said things have been so busy that they've had to hire a new person almost every week.

There are also plans for more locations. "The plan is to open two more locations in Southern California, but we are being approached by people in other cities," Fisher said. "We're entertaining the possibility and there's no commitment to anyone."

Fisher said if they don't open a second or third Treehouse, the business should be profitable in 18 months. If there are build-out costs in the next year, they still expect to be profitable within two years.

BY EMILY BRYSON YORK

Staff Reporter