peach

Is it my imagination, or are there more salon closings this year than ever before, and are they not occurring earlier in the season? (this site is awash with used equipment)

Black Sun

No imagination...Reality.

Funny you bring this up. Over the weekend I was just looking at a 2009 Yellow Pages for one of the 8 or 10 metro Atlanta counties. There were 12 tanning salons in this particular county. Compared it to a 2014 listing, and only 5...so almost 50% gone. I know where I am, a northern burb, not the same one, the ratio is about the same....sadly, I know some of the ones that closed, and they were, up to the time, very well run places.....some owners saw the writing on the wall and got out with dignity, some just walked, some tried to unload. Either way, closure was the ultimate end.

I would venture to guess, based on what I observe, the trend will continue. Interesting, no salons opened to fill the void. I would think because there is no void to fill. Also interesting is within same time period a flux of gyms have opened with mostly all offering tanning. Coincidence or not, who knows.

ljtan

Yep it's not over yet, my guess is another 30% of salons will fail in the next two years. Some are doing the same sells as 3-4 years ago but the cost of doing those sells ( high rents again, minimum wage $3.00 more per hour, high electric cost on smart meters ) And speaking of beds for sale look at E-bay. Hundreds with not one offer.

peach

Usually, pointing this out gets your brains beat out on these sites. Its heresy. It just seams that people are throwing in the towel before the season is 1/2 over. It indicates that a lot of people are giving up on the idea of making a living as a professional tanning salon owner; Tanning cannot stand alone as a viable business model any longer.
(now a bunch of gurus will jump in and tell us how wrong we all are.)

peach

Many people in the tanning industry do not understand the effects of a 10% tanning tax on our industry. It is one of the many things that is strangling the industry. There is no ability to increase prices because along with any increase comes a corresponding increase in taxes that hits the customer. A $10 increase is really $11 etc. As I have said before, people already cannot afford the current prices of indoor tanning, so you are pricing yourselves right out of the market now by raising prices.

The only way to survive for the individual salon owner is to cannibalize others in the industry. It sucks.

Steve Underhill

Yes there are a very large number of salon closings. I think that that trend will continue in part because of the effect that is caused because so many salon owners do not understand how to change with industry changes.

Yes there is a 10% tan tax and in some markets teenagers can't tan. But the reality is that if you took a close look at the salons that are closing you would wonder how they stayed open for as long as they did.

I know there are those that are in denial and want to blame their failure on causes that can easily be countered.

Survival and yes success and growth can be controlled. I think if you took a close look at closing salons you would find that they have a whole list of problems that could have been corrected.

Yes is it possible for a salon to simply not make it because of the market they are in? Of course. However that represents such a small percentage of failing salons.

Why are they closing during the busy season? Because they have done nothing to change their success except hope the next busy season will change things for them without making changes.

If it is not working for you there are two choices, wait until you are forced to close or completely change who you are as a salon and how you do things. That at least gives you an opportunity to succeed where doing nothing insures you will fail.

The positive side of this is that the salons that are structured to succeed and make changes when necessary and understands how to market a solid business model will benefit from the weak poorly operated salons that close.

You get to decide which salon you want to be.

__________________
Stephen Underhill
Consultant
steve@smuconsulting.com

Black Sun

The industry has been a slow sinking ship for years. The ANTI forces have been strong and willing to fight. The industry never had, and still does not have a voice and fighting force...no more than the pro-smoking wing. Will the industry just fold over and die? No, but those who will be the last standing will be the ones with the deep pockets and financial clout to carry on survival.

There have been many nails placed in the coffin (tanning industry) to seal its demise. IMO, the biggest one was when several years ago the SBA (Small Business Admin) stated tanning was a high risk business and cut off guarantee funding and loans for upstarts. Add into the mix the strong anti-tan lobby, bad press reviews and a paying public begins to shy away. Without an industry force of support to counter it all, it became ingredients for death.

A small business owner could attempt to make all the changes possible to stay structured and succeed, but that cost money. It cost to advertise, increase inventory, upgrades, marketing, hire competent employees. Without the business to profit and save, without the ability to obtain financing to improve present conditions, the business begins its death spiral.

If survival was as easy as changing with the times, this industry would not have seen the demise of so many good bed manufacturers and distributors over recent years, or the consolidation of others. if anybody could attempt survival companies like Dr Mueller, PureTan and ETS would not have folded or been consolidated.

I still feel, if one wants to open a successful business, a Yoga studio is a good option. Popular, it it looked upon as an excellent physical, mental health endurer which is easily embraced by the public, the media, and importantly, the lenders

peach

Steve, you forgot the 3rd option; change, spend a lot of time effort and money, making changes then end up closing ANYWAY because the tanning industry is shrinking, not growing.

lemanski85095

What county are you in? I know Cherokee has been about the same way as that except it seems that since 2009 1 opened each year but about 3 to 4 closed in the same time period.

When I bought in 2009 there were 7 other salons within 2 to 3 miles of myself and as of now there is only 2 other salons with one being a large chain.

peach

Well said. You should have also mentioned the high prices for tanning compared to where they were 15 years ago when the industry was at it's peak. People get the same Tan; it just costs more and more each year and their incomes are not keeping up.

You can see that the smart money in the industry is combining tanning with other less controversial industries like fitness, massage, weight loss etc.The eft gurus know it is a good fit for fitness because the fitness industry invented efts. They go together like peas and carrots.

But, as you said, it takes DEEP pockets to do that; planet fitness joints have a mil invested just in equipment alone.