Lacuna Massage aims to offer relaxing escape - Cloquet Pine Journal | News, weather, sports from Cloquet Minnesota - Pine Journal

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CLOQUET — Lacuna Massage Ayurveda and Reiki is intended to be a beach getaway for Cloquet, after owner Kimberly Christine opened the business in July.

Christine said she decorated the storefront, which is located in the old Royal Building at 1111 Cloquet Ave., Suite 1, to help customers get away and relax.

The store has a canopy draped in white linen and those who look up into it while lying down will see a beach tapestry lining the canopy roof.

"Everyone loves the beach, everyone loves to escape to the beach," she said. "That is why I chose this concept."

Christine said she wants people to use Lacuna Massage as an escape if things become too stressful with a client's job, kids or anything else.


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She opened the store after starting out as a mobile massage therapist in Cloquet, but said she realized the demand was not there.

Mobile massage was a big hit for Christine when she lived in Lake Havasu, Arizona, but that part of the business didn't translate to Cloquet.

When speaking with people in the city, she found out there were long waiting lists for other massage options and she decided that it would be best for her to have her own place.

"I can create that little intimate environment so people feel like they are getting a big hug," she said.

Christine moved into her location on July 1 and held a ribbon cutting ceremony on July 28. Other than Ayurveda massages, Christine offers Swedish, therapeutic and medical massage.

Ayurveda massages are different to traditional massages in that they can help energize the recipient and be beneficial to getting through long days, Christine said. The massage includes long strokes over the body, and Christine uses hot oil on the body during the sessions.

"It's great for sports players," she said. "Like right before a big game if they get this done, they are going to have some energy."

Holly Hanson, community development director for the city, said adding Lacuna Massage is a great way to diversify Cloquet's businesses.


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"I think it is a great service ... especially downtown it is totally a missing service that is available," she said.

Hansen added that having a new business dedicated to self care, like the recently opened Garden Isle Bath & Body , is important to Cloquet residents.

"Maybe that is something that has come out of the pandemic, how important it is to spend time in self care and relax and decompress," she said.

Christine grew up in the Northland and graduated from Denfield High School in Duluth. She spent much of her life living in California, Nevada and Arizona, where she became interested in massage therapy.

Christine originally worked in theater production crews and on costumes, but in doing so she developed tendinitis in her arm and a bulging disc in her neck.

After learning about massage and physical therapy, she became more interested in it as a career option.

That would develop specifically into Ayurveda massage when she married her ex-husband, who was from Mumbai, India. During visits to India, Christine said she took classes on massage and that was where she learned how to be a Ayurveda masseuse.

Massage is not the only thing that Christine hopes to offer with her business, as she is trained as a seamstress and creates seat covers for stools.


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As her business grows, she hopes to add more clothing and products for sale, like incense, as well and potentially hold massage classes in the future.

Lacuna Massage is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday by appointment only.