Now at Saks: Salt Rooms, a Bootcamp and a Peek at Retail’s Future<br />In the coming weeks The Wellery will install a Somadome pod, a device<br />that Saks says “uses LED color therapy, binaural beat meditation, and energy healing microcrystalline tiles for optimal restoration.”<br />And while The Wellery will be dismantled later this year as part of the renovations, Mr. Metrick<br />said elements of the experiment will be incorporated throughout the redesigned flagship.<br />Saks would not provide details about the number of visitors to The Wellery or sales at its various kiosks,<br />but Mr. Metrick said the space was less about moving product, and more about forging relationships with Saks customers.<br />It also has group fitness classes taught by ex-convicts and vegan nontoxic nail treatments<br />that promise to “help with focus, memory, increased confidence and overall wellness.”<br />A few days after my visit to the salt room, I was back at The Wellery with Marc Metrick, the president of Saks.<br />“The wellness thing is big,” he said, strolling the floor as employees prepared to greet the day’s first customers.<br />An ad hoc assortment of upscale fitness products and unusual New Age remedies, The Wellery<br />features kiosks offering avocado juice and futuristic fat removal processes.<br />Saks isn’t the first department store to sell wellness treatments alongside haute couture.<br />Mr. Metrick seemed undeterred, however, and said there would be more wellness services to come.
