Despite a lot of negative coverage of the tanning industry in the news and all the constraints imposed over the last year such as the tanning tax and the teen tanning bans, tanning remains a fashionable activity among teenagers and young adults.
That’s mainly because popular culture still holds tanned skin as healthy-looking and attractive. If people aren’t in the booths tanning, they are applying tanning sprays and creams to get that bronze skin color.
Many kids and young adults like to tan before Spring Break so they can look good and not have to worry as much about burning during their vacation. Many tanning salons get a surge of business right before Spring Break with students looking to get a base tan before they go on their sunny vacations. These students like to tan and workout for an improved body image and a chance to show off for their peers during the break.
Even during the off seasons, younger adults and teens like to come in for a tan because they like to feel warm and many report that it makes them feel good not only while tanning but in terms of state of mind. Tanners get their doses of Vitamin D and feel happier even during the off days.
Given these ongoing trends, the tanning industry should be doing okay for some time to come.
A teen tanning ban has been upheld in Germany after tanning salon owners complained. There was an appeal by a 17 year old girl who claimed that the ban infringed on her rights, but the court denied the appeal and upheld the ban on the grounds of public safety. The bans seem to be holding up in other parts of the world. Especially Europe and Canada.
Legislation is being introduced in Utah for a teen ban as well. The editorial in the link is definitely against the measure, stating that it creates the problem of government getting into people’s lives. We’ll see how that legislation fares.
Also, for an alternate look at the tan tax, here’s an article that talks about how it is faring over the past year. According to the article, about a quarter of salon owners experienced a loss in business, while the rest of them didn’t seem to have too serious of problems. Many business absorbed the costs themselves, or shared the costs with the customer, while the rest passed the costs on to the customer. Many customers were against the tax, but in the end didn’t mind paying it to tan. Of course, the government hasn’t collected nearly as much revenue as originally projected, calling into question the effectiveness of the tax.
It’s 2012 and tanning salon owners everywhere are making do with what they have to work with. The California Legislature just passed tons of bills last session, with many of them going into effect this week, including a ban on UV bed tanning for anyone under 18. This precedent could lead to other states passing similar laws; this is also happening in many other countries as well, such as in the UK and Canada.
In response, tanning salon owners are rethinking their marketing strategies and adopting other services such as spray tanning which can help re-absorb those lost demographics.
One state, Nebraska, is actually considering a bill that will exempt tanning salons from sales and use taxes. This will be an interesting development to keep an eye on, especially if the bill passes and other states begin to follow suit.
Keep checking back for updates on the state of the tanning industry!
It has been a tough year for the tanning industry. Salon owners have had to contend with the tan tax all year and now business owners everywhere are facing state bans on teen tanning. But we have seen a lot of ingenuity coming from salon owners as well. Faced with this year’s difficulties, salon owners have worked hard at devising creative marketing plans and improving their services and their brand.
Not to mention, we’ve had a lot of fantastic projects with salon owners who have had their own unique visions of salon design. We’ve been really impressed by the trendy, luxurious, atmospheric salons that owners have dreamed up and we’ve been overjoyed to be a part of making them a reality.
We’ve also rolled out some hot new products for our customers to enjoy this year. Our new products should help out with the salon construction, such as our l-shaped counter, towel rack, radius desk, and wall unit.
So have a Happy New Years from TanWall and keep up all those great innovations. Everyone has been working hard to keep the tanning industry vibrant and going strong and we’re sure salon owners everywhere will continue going strong into 2012. Until next year!
A small portion of the population can be prone to SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder. This disorder is considered a sort of depression. Those afflicted can come under bouts of depression and low energy during the winter seasons (or even summer depending on the person).
There are numerous treatments for this condition, such as light therapy, cognitive therapy, anti-depressants, etc. Tanning could help people with this disorder as well. Though it wouldn’t be the only solution, it could help restore serotonin levels. Many patients are recommended exercise and exposure to the sun outside, so this is definitely an option.
This may or may not be related to vitamin D levels as well. Many people exhibit low vitamin D levels and energy especially during winter, so it tanning could counterbalance some of these effects.
Here is an opinion piece on the subject. Definitely something to think about when you talk to customers about your services.
