XpresCheck

Objective:

Global category leader XpresSpa Group (NASDAQ: XSPA) with 50 locations across 25 airports had been experiencing falling sales and was losing money in 2018. Doug was hired as the CEO to lead a turnaround in 2019 and immediately gained traction with increasing YOY sales and surgical cost cutting, while improving the customer and employee experiences. Unfortunately, by March 2020, all locations were shut down as the business was considered a ‘non-essential use’ with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic leading to a furlough of all but 4 people out of a workforce of approximately 500 people. The objective was to create a new, viable business with limited assets and save the parent company from potential bankruptcy.

Results:

While personal spa treatments in airports were not in demand in 2020, COVID-19 testing for travelers was. As the airport real estate, airport relationships and specialized operational expertise were the primary assets, Doug led the creation of a new airport COVID-19 testing concept, XpresCheck, activating those assets and capitalizing on the abrupt change in market conditions. The small team went from idea to concept to pilot within 75 days becoming the first airport COVID-19 testing business in the US, and then this new concept became the largest airport testing business in the US within 9 months, while raising $100M in public capital and saving the parent company. As if starting a new, highly regulated medical business across multiple states wasn’t hard enough, the team was successful in converting many existing airport leases, gaining new airport locations, creating a completely new national brand and reactivating many of the furloughed employees. The team quickly advanced from an initial unit level buildout cost of $500K to developing a new, modular $150K buildout per location as well as transitioned from an insurance based model to Pay for Service which delivered a substantial increase in revenue and profit. In 2021, XpresSpa Group recognized record revenue of $73M, which was 50% higher than the previous best year in 2019 and was profitable for the first time with an Adj EBITDA of 15% driven by the success of XpresCheck.