The Woodlands Day Spa & Retreat: ‘More immersive, more thoughtful’

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

April 20, 2026

MANITOWOC – The Woodlands Day Spa & Retreat has officially opened along the Lake Michigan shoreline, offering massage, esthetic and alternative wellness services curated by co-owners Angie Phillip and Micki Virnoche. 

Initially featured by The Business News in its Dec. 15, 2025 issue, Phillip and Virnoche said they aimed to open The Woodlands in the new year, and officially welcomed clients in mid-February.

“We opened our doors Feb. 16,” Virnoche said. “Since then, we have seen growth, encouragement from the community and all of [their] standout reactions.”

In addition to their administrative tasks, Phillip said she and Virnoche are both service providers at The Woodlands.

A licensed medical massage therapist, Virnoche said she has owned “a couple of businesses in the past,” while Phillip – with a background in accounting and HR – said she handles “a lot of the coordinating” along with her “integrative health coaching and Ayurvedic teaching” services.

“It is my first time [owning a business], and it is Micki’s and my first time [owning a business] together,” Phillip said.

Virnoche said her past businesses were all centered on massage therapy, and though she had been considering retirement, she agreed when Phillip approached her about The Woodlands.

“Angie’s and [my] aspirations married well, and we both had the same vision – we just brought our own specific ideas into it and created this amazing concept,” she said. “Everything about The Woodlands is designed to help people fully unplug and reconnect. So, it’s a little more immersive [and] a little more thoughtful, and that’s what people seem to be responding to positively.”

Experiential services

With a team of more than a dozen spa attendants and service providers, Phillip said she and Virnoche are “very involved” in workplace culture, creating a welcoming space for both their customers and team members.

“We want our employees to feel like family,” she said. “We don’t want to have a hierarchy like, ‘you’re the boss and [you’re the] subordinate.’ We want everybody to feel welcome, share their ideas and [to] be a nice, warm and inviting atmosphere all around – for clients and employees.”

Throughout the last two months, Virnoche said operations have been relatively smooth sailing at The Woodlands.

“We haven’t encountered any road bumps, really,” she said. “We have been continuing with team growth, and we are getting ready to roll out some new services that are based on the recent trends, but we do it naturally and organically.”

Virnoche said business has been “nice and steady,” with rebookings being one of the most rewarding indicators of client satisfaction.

Every week, Phillip said newcomers stop in to check out The Woodlands facility – located at 601 Buffalo St.

“We have people who just stop in because they’ve heard we’re here and they want to get a tour,” she said. “We are more than happy to give anybody a tour.”

Being located in the heart of downtown Manitowoc, Phillip said, helps bolster the city’s tourism experience.

“It’s very nice to be right downtown along with everybody,” she said. “Tourists, or even local people, can feel free to be in this area and stop at several different places.”

Virnoche said she and Phillip aimed to create an experience at The Woodlands, noting that consumers are seeking more than basic services.

“People are craving more than just an appointment or a service,” she said. “They want an experience, and that’s what Angie and I wanted this to be.”

Phillip said The Woodlands’ clients “have been very praiseful” of not only its services but the reprieve its amenities offer.

“Most of them are excited, saying [things like], ‘Manitowoc needed something like this,’ [and] ‘There’s nothing like this in the area,’” she said. “They enjoy all of our amenities, [and] we have different offerings [of] food and beverages that they appreciate.”

‘It’s making a difference’

After roughly eight months of renovations, Phillip said the facility was ready for their service providers – but a few additional amenities are still in the works.

“We are awaiting an ice vault – that’s still in production [and] got a little bit delayed – but that will be coming, hopefully very shortly,” she said. “[That] will fill out our thermal area in the back, with our salt room, our steam room and our infrared sauna.”

Phillip said she and Virnoche are also planning to construct an outdoor courtyard after winter weather delayed the project.

“We didn’t get to start on [the courtyard last year] because winter came a little bit too quickly while we were getting the inside all ready,” she said, “but that will be a fenced-in area. We’ll have a traditional sauna out there and a bunch of different seating options for [more] intimate groups with fireplaces.”

Regardless, Phillip said the early community response has been encouraging, with clients picking up on the small details they intentionally incorporated into the space.

“They see them, and that gives us more affirmation this was the right thing to do,” she said.

And, despite the fact she was ready to retire, Virnoche said she’s grateful to have joined forces with Phillip to create The Woodlands Day Spa & Retreat.

“What we have done is actually what we wanted to create, and it’s making a difference,” she said.

Visit The Woodlands Day Spa & Retreat’s website (thewoodlandsdayspa.com) or Facebook page for service updates and forthcoming details on its official grand opening event in May.