Walking down Montana Avenue, it is hard not to be confronted with the concept of wellness and self care as you face the seemingly endless stores that have opened up down the block. From Face Gym, a studio for both facial workouts and skincare, to The Hydration Room, which customizes IV therapy, it’s difficult for many to know where to begin and what wellness even is. One store in particular has made quite the effort to not only introduce a variety of wellness methods with ease, but make you feel right at home while doing it.
Restore Hyper Wellness is "a one stop shop" according to Santa Monica Owner, Michelle Kelly. With almost 20 different treatment options, Restore aims to maximize the health and wellbeing of everyone who walks in the door. Founded in Austin, Texas, in 2015 by Jim Donelly and Steve Welch, Restore has grown to over 200 unique locations nationwide, with plans to open to 500 by 2024.
"Not everybody has everything that we have to offer under one roof," says Kelly of their unique treatments that facilitate better personal care. From a variety of facials to compression treatments, Restore offers something for everyone and for every concern. Their system has three different components: core services, skin care, and specialized treatment. Working with registered nurses and local doctors, they have developed a system that can be personalized to each individual.
While the original shop in Austin became famous for its cyrotherapy, the most popular in Santa Monica are the infrared sauna, red-light therapy, and IV drips. Kelly’s personal favorite, the hyperbaric chamber, seems to be the most underutilized.
"The mild hyperbaric as I said, it has so many great benefits, it’s probably our most underrated service. But if someone’s having surgery, instead of just doing it on the you know, post surgery for the healing, we would want you to come in before you have your surgery, so that can help with speeding up the recovery," said Kelly.
Restore opens its doors to anyone and everyone, but works especially close with injured or sick individuals. "There’s a whole list of reasons why people may walk through our door. Some of them treat an injury or they want to do a facial, or because they’re having surgery, they might want to get in. So some of them have a very specific reason. But other people are here because they want to feel better, because they want to do other things," said Kelly. While many assume that wellness treatments are just for recovery, Restore encourages the importance of preventative care too.
The company uses their personalized routines to encourage people to see wellness not just as a response to illness, but as a response to health. "I see wellness as part of your daily life. For me, I scheduled on my calendar, to get up and take a class, take an exercise class or to do some sort of workout, whether it’s outside or at home. And it is part of my daily routine. It is not something when I get sick. It is just part of my daily life so that I can do other things," said Kelly.
With over 200 locations nationally, the Santa Monica location stands out. "People are very much in the mindset of taking care of themselves [in Santa Monica]," said Kelly, making their facility more approachable than in other regions. Kelly explains, "We really want to build a community, which is why we have our IV room as we call it, the living room, that is a very open space." As a new business, Santa Monica has been great for Restore. "I think that being where we are on Montana Avenue, we are, you know, positioned in a really highly visible spot on the corner of 11th, where the light is, there’s a lot of walk by traffic here. Santa Monica has really changed over the course of the last few years on Montana and it has really picked up for new businesses," said Kelly.
Restore Hyper Wellness is located at 1031 Montana Avenue, and more information can be found on their website at www.restore.com.
Antoinette Damico, SMDP Intern
