Keturah Day Spa named Australian Beauty Salon/Spa of the Year

AN earlier version of this report said Kim and Jemma Stergiou had owned Keturah Day Spa for 23 years.

In fact the Stergious bought the business from Daniel and Keturah Hoffman in 2006.

The Claremont couple’s Keturah Day Spa was recently named Australian Beauty Salon/Spa of the Year by industry leaders.

But there’s more to come for Keturah Day Spa, according to Kim and Jemma.

“We’re very excited about our next step because Keturah changed the market 23 years ago,” Kim said.

“It was the first day spa in Australia, but what we’re doing next is really big.”

The Stergious are not ready to reveal too many details of the new venture, except that it will open in 2019, but they hinted that makeup, fashion and fitness – passions they share with their children, Jake (19) and Claudia (17) – will be part of it.

What we do know is it will add to the Keturah portfolio that already includes spas in Carine, Fremantle, Highgate and Nedlands.

Kim was working in beer and wine sales and Jemma in corporate administration when the couple bought commercial land in Carine that housed a spa called Breathe in 2004.

When they opened spas in Fremantle and Highgate two years later, they changed the name to Keturah Day Spa.

Jake is a former Christ Church Grammar School student and Claudia is in Year 12 at Methodist Ladies’ College, and while their parents travelled from Carine to their western suburbs schools, they always kept their eyes open for a local salon.

Nedlands opened in 2008 as the Keturah “superstore” and the family, including dog Buster, has been living in Claremont while they finish building a new family home in Mosman Park.

While Kim and Jemma are equally passionate about Keturah, they have different motivations.

For Jemma, it’s about going to work every day to “make people feel amazing”.

There’s a significant list of high-profile clients, but those like the elderly gentleman who visited every two or three months for a manicure are just as special for Jemma.

“He only liked a particular therapist. She was Irish and he liked that because he could hear her properly,” Jemma said.

“He got quite ill, but we’d still do home visits for him.

“When he passed, it was very sad for all our staff.”

Kim said each location had a $1.1 million fit-out and was custom-built.

“Highgate has been renovated three times. You’ve got to make it beautiful when people walk in.”