You wouldn’t know it if you were to read my upcoming New Homes / YoChicago story about Morton Grove, but the men’s spa featured prominently in the story, Renovo, is dead and gone.
Exactly 12 days after my visit (that is to say – today), a pleasant visit to an upscale salon that seemed to be humming along, I received an e-mail from the salon’s publicist saying that “due to various difficulties, Renovo is closing its doors, effective immediately.”
The publicist did not elaborate. Having visited the salon, with its bottle service cabinet adequately filled, its expansive steam room going full blast, and its bar and grooming product retail shop fully stocked, I cannot imagine what the problem was. The spa even employed a “director of sales and marketing” who made sure I received press materials, including a CD full of photos, on my way out.
The woman who gave me a manicure and pedicure, despite my mild protests, told me that she lived in the Pill Hill section of the Southeast Side of Chicago and drove all the way up to Morton Grove to work at Renovo. “That’s how much I believe in Renovo,” she said, unprompted.