Businesses everywhere were hit hard by the recession; many are still struggling. The tanning industry has especially felt the effects of the weak economy, considering all the hits it has taken in recent legislation. First it was the tan tax, now it is legislators around the world considering age-specific tanning bans.
So how are tanning businesses getting by? Many salon owners have gotten creative, adding services they didn’t offer before and trying new marketing techniques.
Spray tanning is getting very popular very fast, and many tanning owners are jumping on board and are adapting spray tanning services of their own to supplement their incomes. One salon owner offers his advice on starting a spray tanning service and his take on the industry is optimistic and encouraging. Definitely worth a read.
Other owners are offering other services like red light therapy, and even body wraps in order to offer more variety for their customers. Who knows, you might find a new niche to take advantage of; it never hurts to get creative. Think about what the customer wants: to look good and feel good. Tanning helps your customers achieve a favorable body image for your customers, and in turn they feel good about that, while enjoying some endorphins along the way. Think about what you can do to supplement that.
Other salons are engaging the community. This salon for example is offering free tans for anyone who brings in canned goods. Charity drives like this may not get you as much revenue in the short run, but they also build rapport with the community and bring in more customers, which not only being good in itself, could get you more customers and revenue over time.
Salon owners everywhere are doing their best to make things work. It takes some creativity and perseverance, but owners are definitely making it happen.
Well, this can often happen when one state starts a legal precedent: to put it simply, other states are now considering the teen tanning ban.
Last Sunday, governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that banned anyone under 18 from using a tanning bed. Now other states, specifically Ohio, New York, Illinois and Rhode Island are considering a similar bill. Naturally there are all sorts of opinions for and against the possible measure, and there are definitely some interesting perspectives represented in the above-linked article.
This is definitely troubling news for many tanning businesses that depend on a portion of these younger tanners for their income. However there are other salon owners that are coming to terms with the new constraints and are quietly rethinking their business strategies and considering other means of income, such as spray tanning (especially for the younger customers) and red light therapy to make up for lost income. It will be interesting to see what business owners come up with. Some associations, such as the ITA will most likely fight the bills, as they have with the tanning tax, but the tanning tax is still active too, so it would be best to plan on the bans being around for a while if you are in one of the mentioned states (assuming the bills to ban teen tanning are passed).
Speaking of the tanning tax, reports are showing that it is bringing in less income than projected, which was what many opponents predicted when the tax was announced. It looks like the tax is going to bring in around 70 to 75 million in 2011, which is going to fall short of the projected 200 million. Several reasons were given for the shortfall, such as an abrupt announcement of the tax and its subsequent hasty implementation, as well as the confusing nature of its exact application.
Should’ve gone with the botax!
The teen tanning ban has been passed in California. On Sunday October 9, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a flurry of bills, including a bill that bans tanning for those 18 and under. Many younger tanners are complaining about the new ban and many businesses are concerned that the new law is going to further hurt their businesses, seeing as how they are still taking hits from the 10% tan tax.
Speaking of the tan tax, it has been relatively quiet around the repeal effort. It looks like businesses are starting to come to terms with the tax, but if we here any more about the repeal we will definitely post something. But it is hard to tell if there will be a movement to repeal the teen tanning ban as well. From the looks of things, some salon owners are angry, and then some are just quietly rearranging their business to cope with the changes. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.
As for the rest of the country and the world: thirty states have some form of restriction on indoor tanning. Texas has an indoor tanning ban for anyone under 16. New York, Illinois, Ohio and Rhode Island have bans close to the strictness of California’s. As for the rest of the world, several European countries, including England and France, have banned tanning beds and booths for anyone under 18, just like California. Brazil has actually outlawed indoor tanning completely. And then in certain cosmopolitan areas in China such as Hong Kong, tanning is becoming more popular, but we aren’t sure what the restrictions are yet. It is still sort of a mixed bag.
Hopefully the tanning industry pulls through. Many businesses are adjusting their marketing strategies and pursuing other means to keep their business going, including offering other services such as spray tanning and red light therapy. Time will tell!
It is well known that the Jersey Shore cast are regular frequenters of tanning salons and they have helped to further popularize the practice. One of the cast members appears to have made a deal with a salon chain in order to endorse one of their favorite past times.
This story was being circulated last week, but we thought we’d share it anyways.
Anything to boost marketing!
Last week we mentioned a bill that was introduced to Congress that would repeal the tan tax. There are a few articles up that discuss the political details of that process.
It turns out the tan tax repeal bill has a much more complicated background than originally thought. The ITA helped get the bill together and approach Washington politicians with the repeal, but repealing the tan tax is looking to be part of a greater project in dismantling the health care reform, which ties many different interests into the passage of the bill.
The ITA, many in the Republican party, and many business owners around the country are interested in the bill being passed, while certain Dermatological groups, as well as many Democrats, will be interested in the bill not passing.
Again, many interests are in play regarding this bill, and it will definitely be interesting to see what happens.
