After undergoing months of construction and renovation, Relive Spa has opened in the former Papa's Market space at the corner of Church and 17th streets. Back in November, we brought news of Papa's Market closing and Relive Spa taking over, and we now have details about the business.
Owner Apple Duangpatra tells us that Relieve Spa "represents the blending of healthy lifestyle practices, along with the ever expanding evolution of massage as routine body maintenance and a healthy lifestyle in the Bay Area, like it is in Thailand." At Relive Spa you will not only be able to get traditional Thai massages, but Swedish and Deep Tissue/Trigger massages as well.
Duangpatra tells us that clients will also be able to "create their own blend of all natural organic aroma massage oil, mineral exfoliating scrubs for the back, and hot herbal compress treatments for the muscles."
Originally from Chiang Mai, Thailand, Duangpatra has lived and worked in San Francisco for over 20 years. She graduated from Academy of Art University with a degree in Computer Graphics and worked as a designer in Silicon Valley. After 10 years as a designer, she decided that she wanted to do something more rewarding, and stepped away from the design world to attend massage school in San Francisco. In order to study more about Traditional Thai Massage, she traveled to Bangkok to be trained at Temple Wat Po School of Massage, the most well-known massage school in Thailand.
Duangpatra opened her first massage business, Suchada Thai Massage, about eight years ago and has since expanded the business to three more locations in SoMa. "Relive Spa is a new concept that is completely separate from my other business," she said, "one in which I am certain will take on its own life."
In addition to massages, Relive Spa will offer a variety of cold pressed juices, herbal teas, elixirs and other types of healthy beverages once it gets approval from the Planning Department, which Duangpatra expects to happen in the coming weeks. The juice menu has designed by Derek Mottola of Coqueta, who will be training staff on proper preparation, and juices will be made on-site using local ingredients.
Inside, the former corner market has been completely renovated, but Duangpatra used some of the materials from the former business in designing the features of the space. Papa's Market had a large cold storage room lined with wooden planks, and those have been recycled and used to line the walls in the reception area and to create bench seating.
One of the distinctive features you may remember about Papa's Market was the large neon sign over the entryway. While the sign had to come down, Duangpatra liked the neon and felt that it was important to maintain the historic appearance of the exterior, so she decided to have a new neon sign made with the Relive Spa name.
The former Papa's Market storefront (Steven Bracco/Hoodline)
Relive Spa is open Monday through Thursday from 11am to 9pm and Friday through Sunday from 10am to 9pm. Thai massages run from $70-$135 and Swedish/Deep Tissue massages cost between $75-$110. More info is available on the website, here.
In the hopes of attracting clients to come more often, Duangpatra tells us that she has set prices a little lower than those at upscale spas because she "wants people to come here, not just as a special occasion, but something they do a few times a month as part of a healthy lifestyle."
