PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIMOTHY MUSHO, FIG PHOTO | FILM BY EMILY HARD, G&F
CREATIVE DIRECTION BY D. GRAHAM KOSTIC | WRITTEN BY ELLE EICHINGER
A few years ago, while getting her eyebrows waxed at an airport spa as she waited on her flight, Coco Meers had an idea that could just change the beauty industry forever. “Technology has evolved to a point where we now have geo location and real time mobile technology,” she says. “So [why is it that] when I want to get something done, I don’t know what spas around me are available and recommended?” After a few years in business school to hone her start-up skills, Coco launched Pretty Quick, a spa placement service that gives exactly that information to busy Chicago women, matching them with nearby salons and spas that have an open appointment slot. “[Pretty Quick] is going to bring efficiency to the beauty industry both for the consumers and the providers in a way we’ve never seen before,” Coco says. “There are millions of busy, time-pressed people who don’t have the ability to know in advance when they can get their service, and there are millions of service providers who happen to have a last minute cancellation. We are the only ones matching that supply and demand in real time.” And these aren’t just any salons and spas, these are the best of the best in the city: high-end spots like Cellular Intelligence Luxury MedSpa, Channing’s Day Spa, and George the Salon are among Pretty Quick’s more than 70 partner businesses—recommended by a panel of beauty editors including G&F’s own Stacey Roney.
So we had to know: where does Coco go when in need of a spa treatment? She divulged her list of go-tos: Kiva, Spa Emilia, Arbre on Wells, and the Waldorf Astoria (for the occasional all-out spa retreat) all made the cut. And, busy as she is, Coco still finds time to frequent a few other Chicago favorites: boutiques like Handle With Care, Perchance, and Tangerine; restos like Embeya and RL; and anything at all the the Joffrey Ballet undertakes.
This month, Pretty Quick is debuting its brand-new perks program, which will reward users with credits each time they book, that can then be applied to future services.