The Aesthetic Medicine Institute and Anti Aging Clinics of Louisiana will move this fall to a larger Baton Rouge office to double its practice size, hire new staff and—if all goes according to plan—open a school to train aestheticians and cosmetologists in laser procedures.
The clinic, which also has offices in Lafayette, is currently renovating the 10,000-square-foot building at 8485 Bluebonnet Blvd. that it acquired earlier this summer for $3 million from Iron Horse Financial, which has since relocated. The building is located across Bluebonnet from the clinic’s existing 5,000-square-foot office.
Dr. Todd Howell, who co-owns the practice with Kirk Kepper, says he hopes to be in the new facility by Oct. 1, the ninth anniversary of the clinic’s opening.
The clinic has seen its business steadily increase in those nine years, keeping with national trends in the aesthetic medicine category. The global aesthetic medicine market is expected to top $26.5 billion by 2024, more than double its $10.2 billion size in 2016.
Analysts attribute the growth to an aging baby boomer population, more disposable income and technological advances.
Howell has seen the growth first hand, and estimates he personally treats as many as 200 patients each day who come to his Bluebonnet office seeking Botox and fillers, laser skin treatments, sculpting procedures and hormone therapy.
Because there’s been so much growth in the field, Howell and Pepper see an opportunity to use excess space in their new building to open a school that will train aestheticians and cosmetologists in laser procedures.
Few cosmetology programs offer specialized training on laser equipment, and Howell says the industry needs qualified employees, who have learned their trade through more than just on the job training.
“There are a couple of big schools in California, Florida and Arizona,” he says. “But not very much around here.”
In addition to its expansion plans, the clinic is planning to open a new office later this year in Metairie in partnership with an existing medical practice there.
