An Auchterarder couple are transforming a former boutique on the town’s High Street into a luxury wellness spa.
The Death’s Door Performance Club is set to open next month.
It will include a gym, custom-made sauna and outdoor chill area, ice baths, events space and studios for yoga and other classes.
Death’s Door bosses Lauren Rees and James Bremner are investing £500,000 in the move.
They say it will be “Scotland’s first luxury social wellness spa” – a space where people can work out, and recover, in style.
And they’ve hired the company that designed gyms for Chelsea FC and Warner Brothers to fit out the former Oliami fashion shop in the centre of Auchterarder.
Christano Ronaldo is also a fan of LIFTD Design’s ice baths.
It’s almost two years since Lauren and James opened their Death’s Door sports massage clinic across the street.
The original premises are staying open.
But the couple say their new venture will put Auchterarder on the sports performance map.
And it’s their way of thanking the community for the support they were shown when they arrived in the town.
Lauren said locals donated carpets, furniture and even candles and flowers when they started the first clinic.
It’s now a thriving business with satisfied clients including Judy Murray and St Johnstone FC players, along with many locals.
“If it wasn’t for Auchterarder, we wouldn’t be here today,” she said.
Auchterarder move is dream come true for Death’s Door founders
The couple met in New Zealand, where Lauren was already running a sports massage clinic and James was travelling on a break from his job as a Polmont prison officer.
They returned to the UK for a fresh start after he was viciously assaulted in a New Zealand jail.
It took them just 14 days from signing the lease to opening the clinic, with a lot of help from family and friends.
They have since opened a second clinic in Bridge of Allan.
The Death’s Door Performance Club will have the same vibe, but with a lot more luxury on top.
Lauren said the new premises – better known in Auchterarder as the old Cafe Kisa – are perfect for what she and James are planning.
“We always said this would be our dream shop if it ever became available,” she said.
“It’s going to be something really special.”
Conversation