After decades of providing airport travelers with a relaxing moment before boarding, Minute Massage has shut down operations at Tulsa International Airport.
Dan’niel McKnight, owner of Minute Massage, said the 30-year-old business was forced to close Oct. 31 after airport authorities dramatically increased rent for the space, amid other requirements.
“In May, we received a notice that they are going to redo everything. The rent quadrupled. They put out a request for proposal … they were looking for someone to replace us that could pay a lot more money in rent,” McKnight told The Oklahoma Eagle. “We submitted the proposal, and they said, ‘You didn’t do it correctly. So you’re done, you’re out.’”
The business was a family affair. Helen Wormuth, McKnight’s mother, opened the business in 1995, offering travelers quick massages for about a dollar per minute before their flights took off.
In April, Wormuth died of bone cancer, leaving the business to her daughter. McKnight was in tears as she shared details about the closure with The Eagle.
The space was less than 150 square feet and was located near several busy terminals. McKnight said the business paid the airport a flat rental rate of $134 per month for the past five years and a commission fee if sales reached above $5,000.
When McKnight saw the terms outlined in the request for proposal, she knew she wouldn’t be able to afford it.
The airport requested a 10-year term, 80% of the first contract’s gross revenue, a 15% airport fee of gross revenue and renovations funded by the business owner. These requirements, according to Fly Tulsa CEO Alexis Higgins, aimed to maximize the space for a business that could generate more revenue. Fly Tulsa manages and operates the airport.
“We have 3.2 million passengers a year coming through our airport, and I have to ensure that the value of having that audience is captured in a way that doesn’t degrade the value for other operators,” Higgins told The Eagle.
McKnight’s proposal was dismissed for not including plans to expand the space and for lacking proper insurance information. Minute Massage continued to operate on a month-to-month contract, but was given Oct. 31 as its final day to vacate.
A week before the deadline, McKnight said the airport reopened negotiations for the business to stay — in a new space downstairs. The airport asked McKnight to pay $2,100 for the downstairs space. After communicating she could only afford to pay $500, negotiations ended.
“Our regulars won’t go down there because you can’t even hear the gate announcements down there,” McKnight said. “They want to sit and get a massage, and they want to hear when their gate’s boarding …but down there, we won’t even be able to hear anything.”
Tears were shed during its last day. McKnight spent her time reminiscing with the business’ three massage therapists, Jeanie Renfrow, Lana Wilson and Stacey Owens.
Renfrow, who had worked there for nearly 20 years, went through the motions, providing massages to her regulars who passed by and reminisced on what would be lost.
“I’m heartbroken over it,” Rhonda Reale, one of Renfrow’s regulars, said. “She’s the only reason I made it through most weeks, because I have a pretty labor-intensive job.”
In their final hours, the four women hugged each other, and photographed themselves with a photo of the late Wormuth.
Owens and Wilson are unsure as to what they will do next, though Renfrow will continue to look for places to serve her clients.
“I’m at a loss for words about how I’m feeling, because it really is devastation in a sense,” Owens said.
Higgins told The Eagle the airport did not receive any interest from potential applicants for their initial request for proposals from businesses. With the Minute Massage shutdown, the space will remain empty until the airport can find alternatives for how to use it.
“Unfortunately, for Minute Massage, it just did not work out this time,” Higgins said. “If she were to come back in the future and say, ‘here’s a proposal and here’s what I could do,’ we’d certainly look at it if we had a space available, but I’m just not in the position to give away space in the terminal.”
Ismael Lele is a Report for America corps member and writes about business in Tulsa for The Oklahoma Eagle. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting this link.
