Oakwell Beer Spa](https://oakwell.com), the Colorado-based social-wellness concept that pairs private hydrotherapy suites with a craft beer and wine taproom, has signed its first franchise agreement, tapping a Las Vegas husband-and-wife team to bring the Denver-born brand to Nevada.

Andrew and Gina Lanzino will develop the debut out-of-state location, becoming the brand's first franchisees since Oakwell Beer Spa opened its franchise program earlier this year. The agreement was announced September 9, 2026, by co-founders and CEO Jessica Zouaoui and Chief Growth Officer Damien Zouaoui.

The Operators

Andrew Lanzino brings an atypical résumé to the franchisee pool. A U.S. Air Force veteran and UNLV MBA graduate, he spent more than two decades as a corporate strategist, most recently as Senior Vice President of Strategy & Citywide Events at MGM Resorts International, where he helped orchestrate Super Bowl LVIII, the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, and New Year's Eve activations on the Strip. He currently teaches Strategy & Implementation at UNLV's Harrah College of Hospitality while pursuing a PhD in Global Tourism & Hospitality. Gina Lanzino is the founder and president of 5678 Dance, a Las Vegas nonprofit, and brings a cross-functional background in sales, marketing, and operations.

The pair's profile — deep hospitality industry credibility, community roots, and entrepreneurial experience — reflects the kind of operator profile franchise brands in the experiential food-and-beverage segment increasingly pursue as they move beyond early corporate-unit proof-of-concept into asset-light expansion. Andrew Lanzino traces his interest in the concept to a beer spa he visited in Prague during his MBA studies, a thread that also runs through Oakwell's own founding story: co-founders Jessica and Damien Zouaoui spent 14 months traveling through 25 countries before launching the brand in Denver in 2021.

Growth Runway

Oakwell currently operates two company-owned locations — in Denver and Highlands Ranch, Colorado — and has identified more than 100 target markets for national expansion. Active recruiting is underway in Phoenix, Austin, Atlanta, Detroit, Boston, Kansas City, and Charleston, in addition to Las Vegas. The brand's operating model is designed to reduce dependence on licensed service-provider staffing, one of the persistent labor-cost pressure points for traditional day spas, by centering the experience on self-directed hydrotherapy and sauna amenities complemented by a beverage-forward social component.

The Lanzinos are currently evaluating real estate in the Las Vegas Arts District, an off-Strip neighborhood that has drawn a concentration of independent food-and-beverage operators and experiential concepts. As the wellness-hospitality crossover segment draws increasing interest from both lifestyle brands and multi-unit operators, Oakwell's taproom-plus-spa format positions it between traditional QSR and full-service dining in terms of daypart flexibility and guest dwell time — a differentiated pitch for prospective area development partners.

"Las Vegas runs at full speed around the clock," said Andrew Lanzino, Founding Franchisee of Oakwell Beer Spa. "Most people don't have many places to go that aren't another bar, restaurant, or gym. We want to give them somewhere to slow down, reconnect, and genuinely relax."

Jessica Zouaoui described the Lanzinos as operators who understand the brand's hospitality-first premise: "Las Vegas is a market that demands excellence, and we trust them to set the standard for every franchisee who follows."

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.