Maybe you’ve used a pleasant aromatherapeutic soap at your favorite local coffee shop or restaurant, and it left an impression. Or maybe you’ve purchased one of the Mike’s Recovery brand mineral soaks or salt scrubs at the Whole Foods or Sprouts Market around the corner, not realizing these products are made in Downtown Las Vegas at the renovated and refashioned Fergusons motel on Fremont Street.
That’s where Michael Buckham runs his shop and creates his line of restorative products, which also includes massage and body oils, balms, hand sanitizer and cleaning solutions. Mike’s Recovery was founded just five years ago and it’s still a local operation, even though its items are available at national franchise markets, along with prominent spa venues like Canyon Ranch at the Venetian.
“I wanted to build it without any real [outside] investment and started with $6,000, just wanting to grow on its own merit,” Buckham says. “I wanted it to be something grounded. We made the first batch [of products] in a garage. It was very organic.”
Buckham moved to Las Vegas from his native Wales more than 20 years ago and began his wellness career journey working at gyms while completing massage therapy school. Once he started in massage, his interactions with clients and his previous experiences in fitness businesses informed his vision for Mike’s Recovery.
“It was a lot of guys working out hard and partying all weekend, and there was no time for processing what’s going on in life,” he says. “That’s common for a lot of us. We don’t make real time for relaxation or self-care, and there’s a lot more talk about that nowadays.”
Buckham originally partnered with friend Max Jacobson-Fried of Freed’s Bakery to start the company but recently bought him out. Initial marketing efforts were targeted to athletes and fitness buffs at gyms and sporting events, with Buckham focusing on the aromatherapy elements built into each product. That was something new for the audience, he says.
“I studied aromatherapy for years. Women can better tolerate synthetic smells, and I think they’re definitely accustomed to that from women’s beauty products,” he says. “I’m very sensitive to smell and good at creating blends that are palatable for most people. If someone is really into the fake smells, they won’t like my products.”
When Buckham began installing soaps at restaurants for use in restrooms, like Downtown’s PublicUs coffee shop, the attention helped Mike’s Recovery turn a corner. “The owner said people were coming out smelling their hands and asking, ‘What is this?’ ” he says.
Misty Maher, co-owner of the Henderson spa Lapis & Oak, says Mike’s Recovery is an ideal fit for her business and clientele, because Buckham shares her team’s understanding of the importance of total wellness care.
“He really understands the true usage of everything he puts in his products and how,” Maher says. “He’s using the highest-quality ingredients to deliver care ... and we align with Mike’s Recovery because we both have that knowledge, and we know what we want to accomplish.”
Her husband and partner, Tommy Maher, has worked as a massage therapist for 27 years in Las Vegas, including at the luxury spas in Strip resorts. They opened Lapis & Oak to fill what they saw as a void for a service-oriented spa for locals seeking massage and other treatments on a regular basis.
“We know there’s a need for massage and skin care wellness and health beyond celebrations or special occasions,” she says. “You are in your body 24/7, and it’s crucial you are getting regular body work and therapy.”
Her passion for that work extends to the products used in treatments and sold at the spa. The Mike’s Recovery mineral soaks are particularly prominent there, as Maher notes the importance of using salt soaks before and after therapy sessions in healing muscles and reducing inflammation.
Buckham says he has been invited to take his products national by Whole Foods, starting with distribution in California stores, but he’s managing expansion gradually. Mike’s Recovery can produce tons of products in the span of a week from its Downtown headquarters, which makes the business scalable.
“I really want to stay Downtown, and I’ve reached out to some brokers about spaces a bit bigger so [growth] in production can happen,” he says. “Just a few months ago, Canyon Ranch started giving lip balm to customers [in gift packages], so that’s 1,200 items a week. I feel like I’m at a point where it can blow up in a really good way.”
Rapid growth will mean hiring more staff, since Buckham is something of a one-man show. But he’s set on keeping and strengthening the brand’s personal connections with partners and customers. “In the short term, I really want people to feel it. It’s definitely experiential,” he says. “Where I grew up, taking a bath is a normal thing to do, no big deal. Here, relaxation and taking time for yourself is not part of the culture.
“Above all, I want affordable products of really good quality available to people of any demographic.”
Click HERE to subscribe for free to Vegas Inc’s BizClick newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest business news in Las Vegas sent directly to your inbox each Monday.