Wonderland Asian Massage Surrenders Licenses, Leaves Hopkins

Wonderland Asian Massage and its masseuse have gone ahead and surrendered their license in order to avoid formal revocation that could have kept them from starting a business elsewhere.  

The attorney for owner Julio Alaniz and his wife, masseuse Yang Yu, notified the Hopkins City Attorney on Tuesday that the couple agreed to give up their licenses, City Clerk Kris Luedke said.

City ordinances require massage establishments to have a city business license and for the masseuses who work there to also have individual city massage therapist licenses.  

Staff asked the City Council to revoke Yu’s individual massage therapist license because she hired unlicensed masseuses. They also wanted to revoke Alaniz’s business license for failing to properly supervise an employee or independent contractor.  

Council members said during a May 21 license revocation hearing that they opposed letting Wonderland stay in the city. However, they were less comfortable with a license revocation that could keep the owners from getting a license in another community.  

Formal license revocation could keep Alaniz and Yu from getting a license elsewhere by registering as an “adverse action” when another city performs a background check.  

Consequently, the council gave the couple a week to decide on whether to turn in their licenses or face a vote on revocation Tuesday. With Alaniz and Yu voluntarily surrendering their licenses, the vote on formal revocation has been canceled.