

As part of the acquisition, Starwood launched Bliss Spas in several of its W Hotels in an effort to move its W hotel brand into the resort business. In January 2004, Starwood acquired Bliss spa from LVMH for $25 million. The next year the company launched its first QuickBliss spa service station at Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge in London, offering an abbreviated menu of fast facials, waxing and nail services. Two years later, in November, 2001, Bliss opened its first international spa, Bliss London. In December 1999, LVMH opened a second location, Bliss 57 on East 57th Street. It was LVMH’s first North American acquisition, and a break with their previous strategy of pursuing European prestige brands. In March 1999, the luxury products group, LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton), acquired a majority stake in Bliss spa for a reported $30 million. To accommodate increasing demand, Kilgore opened the first Bliss Spa in SoHo in July 1996. She opened her first single-room office in New York’s Soho district in 1991, followed by the opening of a three-room mini-spa called Let’s Face It! in June 1993.

She began giving facials to her friends out of her East Village apartment.

Soon after she decided to go to esthetician school, largely because she had personally suffered from acne since her preteen years. During college, she became a personal trainer to make money. Bliss spa was founded in 1996 by Marcia Kilgore, a Saskatchewan, Canada native who moved to Manhattan in 1987 to attend Columbia University.
