Until two years ago, Matt Stewart was writing commercial insurance for a living, married with three children, coaching sports and, in general, “trying to do it all.”
Now 35, Stewart said he hit a point where he was starting to break down.
His physician prescribed an antidepressant, Stewart did his research and took a different path. He dropped all prescription drugs and lost 60 pounds.
On his path to do that, he discovered yoga and then, floating.
“It was like a lightbulb went off,” he said.
Floating typically is done in a water-filled pod in which the customer floats alone for an hour, in the dark if preferred, to encourage relaxation.
His first float was in Denver, the second in Orlando. “I knew it was exactly what I needed,” he said.
So much so that he bought the franchise for Northeast Florida for Indigo Float, the Denver startup that expanded into territories in Orlando and Jacksonville.
Indigo Float intends to build-out at Riverplace Shopping Center at 11111 San Jose Blvd. in a spot near Stein Mart. The city is reviewing an application for a $190,000 tenant improvement for 1,842 square feet for the business.
Matt approached his wife, Jacki, with the idea and she said yes. He stopped selling insurance to set up the franchise, while she continues her career in IT audit. The children are 19, 9 and 7 – the youngest a girl.
The Denver center opened in December, Orlando opens in about two months and Jacksonville’s first Indigo Float could open in August or September.
Stewart estimates the investment at $500,000. He said the center will operate 9 a.m.-9 p.m. or later, depending on demand. He anticipates six employees.
Indigo Float is a center that allows customers to float in pods of water, which indigofloat.com calls “restricted environmental stimulation therapy.”
Customers float in a shallow pool of water suspended with 850 pounds of Epsom salt, which is magnesium sulfate.
Plans for the Jacksonville center show four oval pods and five float rooms. Stewart said the fifth room is an open float room with a big tub designed for customers with special needs or for couples’ floating.
The pods, from Budapest, are 10-feet-long and filled with 250 gallons of water made denser with Epsom salts.
Indigo Float says “magnesium is exceptional for the rejuvenation of skin, hair, nails and bones, while the sulfate pulls toxins, lactic acid, heavy metals, and other impurities from the body.”
It says customers will float “effortlessly on the surface,” eliminating stress on bones, muscles and organs “in an environment that’s free from the distractions of light, sound, touch and gravity.”
Indigo Float claims the experience can reduce stress, detoxify the body, improve sleep, increase performance and creativity, reduce joint and muscle pain, sharpen focus, improve memory and cognitive performance and improve “chemo-fog.”
“It’s a noninvasive way to deal with wellness,” Stewart said. “I can see a day when doctors say, ‘go take a float.’”
Indigofloat.com says its floatSPA pod completely removes and filters the water between float sessions. Stewart said staff wipes down the pods between uses.
The water doesn’t fill until a customer is showering before using the pod. Stewart says the customers can float with the lid closed or open and lights on or off. They can float in their bathing or birthday suits.
Stewart said the float rates will be $49 for a one-hour float for members, and for a first-time floater. Indigo Float will offer packages, such as $99 for three floats per month.
Stewart said the float-owner community is tightknit. He knows the owner of H20m Float, which also offers massage therapy, along St. Johns Bluff Road and he is familiar with another center planned in Riverside.
Stewart’s Indigo Float territory is Jacksonville, Gainesville, Tallahassee, St. Augustine and Savannah.
Riverplace Shopping Center is represented by the Franklin Street commercial real estate company. Director Whitney Butler said Riverplace is a neighborhood center for Mandarin residents as well as a regional center.
The center is along San Jose Boulevard just south of Interstate 295.
“They will do well there. It’s a perfect opportunity to reduce stress, detox your body and continue on a path of wellness. It’s right in the trend of what we are seeing with lifestyles,” Butler said.
Butler with Franklin Street represented the landlord. Retail Associate Katherine Goodwin of Colliers International represented the tenant.
