Colorado-based Oakwell Beer Spa has signed its first franchise agreement, placing its debut non-corporate location in Las Vegas under the ownership of Andrew and Gina Lanzino — a move that marks the brand's first formal step toward a stated pipeline of more than 100 target growth markets nationwide.
The concept pairs private hydrotherapy suites and infrared saunas with a craft beer and wine taproom, deliberately sidestepping one of the wellness segment's most stubborn cost pressures: licensed service-provider staffing. By centering the experience on self-directed hydrotherapy rather than practitioner-led treatments, Oakwell operates with a hospitality labor model closer to a food-and-beverage venue than a traditional day spa — a structural advantage that franchisees evaluating unit economics should weigh carefully against conventional spa builds.
The Operator Profile
Andrew Lanzino brings an unusual résumé to hospitality franchising. A former Air Force veteran, he spent more than 20 years in corporate strategy, most recently as Senior Vice President of Strategy & Citywide Events at MGM Resorts International, where he led execution around Super Bowl LVIII, the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, and New Year's Eve on the Strip. He currently teaches Strategy & Implementation at UNLV's Harrah College of Hospitality. Gina Lanzino brings sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship experience as founder of a Las Vegas nonprofit. The pairing of large-event operations expertise with community-rooted brand-building is precisely the profile franchise developers covet for a first-market launch — especially in a city where hospitality standards are set by billion-dollar resort operators.
"Las Vegas runs at full speed around the clock," said Andrew Lanzino, Founding Franchisee of Oakwell Beer Spa. "Most people don't have many places to go that aren't another bar, restaurant, or gym. We want to give them somewhere to slow down, reconnect, and genuinely relax."
What the Expansion Map Signals
Oakwell's corporate footprint currently spans two locations in the Denver metro, both opened since 2021. The franchise program launched earlier in 2026, making this agreement the first closed deal. Target expansion markets named by the brand include Phoenix, Austin, Atlanta, Detroit, Boston, Kansas City, and Charleston — a mix of Sun Belt high-growth corridors and secondary markets with strong craft-beverage cultures, a deliberate overlap that aligns the concept with existing consumer behaviors around taprooms and experiential leisure.
For operators and multi-unit investors tracking the wellness-hospitality convergence, Oakwell represents a format worth benchmarking: lower licensed-labor dependency, a beverage-revenue layer that improves per-visit yield, and a guest demographic the brand describes as balanced between male and female — and skewed toward first-time spa-goers. That last point matters for site-selection and marketing strategy, as it expands the addressable audience well beyond the traditional day-spa customer.
The Lanzinos are evaluating sites in the Las Vegas Arts District, targeting the neighborhood's walkable, independently owned character as a counterpoint to Strip-adjacent hospitality. Operators considering the brand launch playbook for experiential concepts should note how off-Strip positioning can reduce real estate costs while building authentic local loyalty.
For operators assessing franchise opportunities in the wellness and beverage category, Oakwell's staffing model and beverage-revenue integration offer a genuinely differentiated unit structure — though as with any emerging franchise system, prospective franchisees should rigorously review FDD disclosures and benchmark AUV data as the brand's portfolio grows beyond its current two corporate locations.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
