NASSAU, The Bahamas, Dec. 18, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Steiner Leisure Limited (Nasdaq:STNR) today announced the resignations of Joseph Acebal and Richard Mikles, the Co-Chief Executive Officers of the company's Ideal Image Development, Inc. subsidiary, effective January 15, 2013. Steiner Leisure is pleased to announce that, effective today, Bruce Fabel will join the company to serve as President of Ideal Image. Messrs. Acebal and Mikles have graciously offered to be available to provide advice to Mr. Fabel and to Leonard Fluxman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the company, with respect to the operations of Ideal Image after January 15, 2013, in order to help facilitate a smooth transition of Ideal Image's leadership.
Mr. Fabel has had many years of experience in various segments of the consumer space, including with respect to brand management and franchising with well-known and highly respected global brands, including Warner Brothers Studios, Nike Inc., Calvin Klein and GameWorks.
Mr. Fluxman said, "We appreciate all the efforts of Joe Acebal and Rick Mikles in helping Ideal Image become an important part of Steiner's business and we wish them success in their future endeavors." Mr. Fluxman continued, "We are very excited about having Bruce join us as we continue to integrate and expand our network of Ideal Image locations. We have known Bruce for a number of years and have always been very impressed with his background of brand-building at the domestic and international levels for entities that are household names, as well as the expertise he has accumulated with multi-unit retail brands. We believe that his experience in fostering the success of these companies makes him a particularly great fit for Ideal Image as we continue to grow the laser hair removal portion of our business and we look forward to working with him as a member of our management team."
Steiner Leisure Limited is a worldwide provider of beauty, wellness and education. We are dedicated to maintaining the highest quality standards and continually evolving to include and anticipate new developments within our industry. We aim to maintain and expand our existing diverse portfolio of services, products and brands, as well as to seek out new opportunities to complement our business.
Our services include traditional and alternative massage, body and skin treatment options, fitness, acupuncture, herbal medicine, medi-spa treatments and laser hair removal. We are committed to providing our customers with a wide-ranging assortment of beauty products, including premium quality options developed by us under our own brands, as well as those purchased from third parties.
Our distribution channels include our shipboard and land-based spas and salons, destination spas, health clubs, department stores and third party retail outlets and distributors. We also sell our products on certain British Airways flights, on QVC, by catalog, and online through our websites, including www.timetospa.com and www.blissworld.com.
Our post secondary schools offer programs in massage therapy and skin care, among others, and, along with our recruiting and training operations, prepare spa professionals for careers in the health and wellness industry, including within the Steiner family of companies.
Our cruise line operations are conducted in spas onboard 157 ships, including Azamara Club Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Cunard Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Lines, Silversea Cruises, Thomson Cruises and Windstar Cruises.
Our land-based spa operations are carried out under our Elemis®, Mandara®, Chavana®, Bliss® and Remede® brands and take place in 70 locations, including resort spas, urban hotel spas and day spas. In addition, a total of 28 resort and hotel spas are operated under our brands by third parties pursuant to license agreements with the company. Our land-based customers include Caesar's Entertainment, Hilton Hotels, InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, Kerzner International, Loews Hotels, Marriott Hotels, Nikko Hotels, Planet Hollywood, Sofitel Luxury Hotels, St. Regis Hotels, W Hotels and Resorts and Westin Hotels and Resorts.
Our Ideal Image customized laser hair removal services are provided by highly trained, experienced practitioners through a nationwide network of 96 treatment centers (17 of which are operated by franchisees) across 29 states.
We develop and sell a variety of high quality beauty products under our Elemis, La Therapie™, Bliss, Remede, Laboratoire Remede® and Jou® brands.
Our schools operations consist of 12 post secondary schools (comprised of a total of 31 campuses) located in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe and Tucson, Arizona; Westminster and Aurora, Colorado; Groton, Newington and Westport, Connecticut; Miami, Orlando, Pompano Beach, Sarasota and Tampa/St. Pete, Florida; Chicago, Crystal Lake and Woodridge, Illinois; Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; Las Vegas, Nevada; Hoboken and Wall, New Jersey; King of Prussia and York, Pennsylvania; Dallas and Houston, Texas; Salt Lake City and Lindon, Utah; Charlottesville, Virginia; and Federal Way and Seattle, Washington. Offering programs in massage therapy and, in some cases, skin care, these schools train and qualify spa professionals for health and beauty positions within the industry, including our own operations.
As part of our employee recruitment operations for our shipboard spas, we provide education to our shipboard employees through our rigorous training programs, at our primary training facilities near London, England or one of our satellite training centers in South Africa and the Philippines. These employees are sourced primarily from the British Isles, Australia, South Africa, Southeast Asia, Canada, the Caribbean and continental Europe.
Forward-Looking Statements
Our statements with respect to continuing to integrate and expand our network of Ideal Image locations and growing the laser hair removal portion of our business may be deemed to be a forward-looking statement within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements do not guarantee the continued integration and expansion of our network of Ideal Image locations, nor the growth of the laser hair removal portion of our business, since known and unknown risks and other factors may preclude results that match this statement. Such risks and factors include uncertainties beyond our control that could adversely affect such integration, expansion and growth, including, among other things, regulatory requirements relating to the laser hair removal industry and possible changes in those requirements, delays in the build-out of proposed new Ideal Image centers and competitive and other local and regional conditions that may limit our ability to expand in certain areas. Other risks are described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2011. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any of such forward-looking statements.