Minooka Moms Mad About Mondamin Street Massage Parlors

Minooka, IL — A pair of massage spas have a group of local women up in arms and planning to air their grievances at a village meeting next week.

“It’s not good for the community and it’s not right for the women who work there,” Joy Throgmorton said of Moon Spa and Washington Spa, two massage parlors a quarter mile away from each other on Mondamin Street.

Throgmorton said Moon Spa refuses service to women, catering to an exclusively male clientele. On Monday afternoon, Throgmorton tried to book a massage at Moon Spa. She said she was turned away and told she would not be served.

When a man went into the spa just minutes later with the same request, he was told he could get a rubdown in an hour.

The owner of a restaurant in the same strip mall as the Moon Spa, Parker Square, said he sees a parade of men — and only men — going in and out of massage parlor, and that they sometimes stop in to his place when they’re done.

“People get hungry,” said the restaurant owner, who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s affecting my business in a good way, but I don’t like it.”

When a woman working at Moon Spa was asked by Patch about turning away Throgmorton Monday afternoon, she said she was welcome to come back and could have a massage in an hour, just like the man. She also said no sexual services were offered at Moon Spa.

Throgmorton said she had gone into Moon Spa before to check if they would allow a woman to receive a massage and was turned away then as well.

When Throgmorton went into the Washington Spa and asked for a massage, a woman working there agreed to provide her with one, she said.

A woman at Washington Spa said it does not provide sexual services either.

“Oh no, no, never,” she said.

The woman declined to give her name, saying, “I’m not working. I’m just answering phones,” but said she would pass a message on to the owner. The owner has yet to respond.

In 2013, Washington Spa raised the ire of village residents with a risque advertisement promising "new feeling" and "new Japanese girls, Korean girls, Chinese girls." The ad also featured five scantily clad women, and a posting on the classified site Backpage still lists it under the categories "Adult Entertainment" and "Body Rubs."

Kristin Rhoads, a licensed massage therapist and the owner of Nurture the Journey Wellness Studio — also on Mondamin Street — said she has complained to the village about the two spas, but not for about a year and a half.

“My family was concerned for my safety due to the nature of the business,” she said, so “I kind of let go of my grip on that a little bit.”

But Rhoads said her issues with Moon Spa and Washington Spa have never gone away, and she wants the village to do something about it.

“The village and the police department, this is basically what they tell me: ‘We go in there and look at their business licensing and everything is fine and up to date,’” Rhoads said. “They have no concept of what they’re looking for.”

Village Administrator Dan Duffy said neither he nor the police chief have received complaints about the spa in about a year and a half. Duffy also said that the village does not hold much sway over a business that complies with the rules.

“When it comes to a business license, I can’t pick and choose who I give a license to,” said Duffy, who noted that the two spas have been checked and are monitored.

“We’ve done some inspections, made sure they have their appropriate credentials from the State of Illinois,” he said.

Duffy also invited those with concerns to “reach out,” and a group of about 25 who organized through the Facebook page Moms of Minooka plans to do that at next week’s meeting, said concerned mother Michelle Williams.

Williams said the group has been critical of Washington Spa since coming across its racy ad and finds Moon Spa troubling as well.

Throgmorton said she wants the spas gone “because my daughter grows up here. It’s our community. We have a business here.”

“It’s right here,” she said, “right when you enter town.”