Close to closing! Any Ideas? - tanTALK

GBoucher · 10-10-2014, 01:29 PM

After an OK August, This Sept and so far this Oct. have been dissmal. I am down at least 50% or more from last year. I have been running specials, offering 1/2 price Mondays and Saturdays, Posting on Facebook and at local businesses and college. I paid the local newspaper to run a coupon for 1/2 price tanning. I didn't get one response. the newspaper salesman was shocked. I am offering 1/2 price tanning to the college students and still little business. I am one of only 2 salons in the area and the other one is much more expensive. I have good prices and good beds. Dr. Muller Sungate, Sunvitale, Solarwind 5000 and 4000.,2 SunCapsules.

I am about a month or so from closing if it doesn't pick up. The only option i have right now is to try and get the landlord to lower my rent a lot. he may be open to it since he has several other spaces that have been vacant for a year or so.

Other than that i don't know what else i can do.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated

parrot head · 10-10-2014, 06:03 PM

If it's any consolation, you are not alone. I have had a terrible year, although September was robust. October is now back in the doldrums. September was good because I run all these specials in order to get the college students to lock in. Well you know what that brings, nobody buying anything for the rest of the semester. You have to try to make it to the busy season which begins mid December, then hopefully you can make it until Jason. If I can make it until then, I will look at closing up shop July through August, and hitting it hard in September. It's a vicious cycle that we must endear.

DH · 10-10-2014, 06:12 PM

First off STOP with the discounts and this half price crap. I'll bet your much higher priced comp is doing well. I too am higher (per my comp) than my comp and we're doing well. You're cheapening your salon and turning your clients away by doing this.

This summer we started to sell weekly tanning that we've never done for a good price. We also, pushed our referral program...refer a friend and get your tanning free. For example if a month of tanning is $100, sell a week for $25. This makes it easier for clients to afford tanning in smaller bites and has the APPEARANCE of a lower price. We've increase our "New Clients" this summer four fold over last year.

tanu01 · 10-11-2014, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DH

First off STOP with the discounts and this half price crap. I'll bet your much higher priced comp is doing well. I too am higher (per my comp) than my comp and we're doing well. You're cheapening your salon and turning your clients away by doing this..

Steve has not called you an old man stuck in his ways yet ?

Depending where your locatated....... biz is bad for the most part.
I spent the last 2 weeks watching the others stores in my area, there slower than I am. People just do not seem to be tanning right now.

crosbytan · 10-13-2014, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DH

First off STOP with the discounts and this half price crap. I'll bet your much higher priced comp is doing well. I too am higher (per my comp) than my comp and we're doing well. You're cheapening your salon and turning your clients away by doing this.

This summer we started to sell weekly tanning that we've never done for a good price. We also, pushed our referral program...refer a friend and get your tanning free. For example if a month of tanning is $100, sell a week for $25. This makes it easier for clients to afford tanning in smaller bites and has the APPEARANCE of a lower price. We've increase our "New Clients" this summer four fold over last year.

What happens when a business goes out of business??? They have a huge going out of business sale so they can recoup money for their inventory. Then they have a huge revenue spike from the sale and once they're closed they're sitting there with money in their pockets saying "We should have done something like this earlier, Maybe we'd still be open" Don't run sales every week of the year but this is the time of year where a well placed ad or sale can help heal a situation until busy season. Try a new one of a kind sale that nobody around you runs. Here's a good tip too Nobody really wants everything free, They feel like a mooch however they do like the buy one get one free sales. Then when they have their free month have the girls remind the customer periodically Hey you're on you free month that means you can buy a lotion!!! Just have them word it in their own way, This gets the customer to forget that they paid for the 1st month but reminds them that they want to buy something so they don't appear as that "mooch" Our customers worry about their public appearance 100% of the time thats why they tan

Rich · 10-13-2014, 11:15 AM

In another life I used to work on going out of business sales and cash raising sales for furniture stores and waterbed stores. You can do a gob on a tanning salon but it is not nearly as profitable.

GBoucher · 10-13-2014, 12:54 PM

gob on a tanning salon?

crosbytan · 10-13-2014, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GBoucher

gob on a tanning salon?

Going out of business.... I didn't mean to actually run a GOB sale I just used that as an example as to the best way to fix the situation. Sales cut into your profit a lot but if you're simply looking to keep the lights on until December than a sale will help revenue boost until then

Steve Underhill · 10-13-2014, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GBoucher

After an OK August, This Sept and so far this Oct. have been dissmal. I am down at least 50% or more from last year. I have been running specials, offering 1/2 price Mondays and Saturdays, Posting on Facebook and at local businesses and college. I paid the local newspaper to run a coupon for 1/2 price tanning. I didn't get one response. the newspaper salesman was shocked. I am offering 1/2 price tanning to the college students and still little business. I am one of only 2 salons in the area and the other one is much more expensive. I have good prices and good beds. Dr. Muller Sungate, Sunvitale, Solarwind 5000 and 4000.,2 SunCapsules.

I am about a month or so from closing if it doesn't pick up. The only option i have right now is to try and get the landlord to lower my rent a lot. he may be open to it since he has several other spaces that have been vacant for a year or so.

Other than that i don't know what else i can do.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated

It looks like you are making decisions based on desperation. Dropping all of your prices and giving tanning away for 50% of is a terrible idea.

Promotions must be designed strategically to drive sales and activity, not to give tanning away at discounted prices. Being the cheapest salon in town is never good unless your product is of less quality than the completion and then it still does not help.

There may be a number of other things that you are not doing correctly. If you are a month away from closing your doors it is too late.

that is why I always suggest evaluating your salon when you first start seeing a decline in business instead of waiting and hoping for better days.

Just randomly throwing out 50% discounts on tanning never works.

When you ask what are you doing wrong, that can't be answered unless we know everything you are and are not doing.

Sorry you waited so long. I would like to take a look at your demographics just to get a feel for your market. Can you share an address?

Steve Underhill · 10-13-2014, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanu01

Steve has not called you an old man stuck in his ways yet ?

Depending where your locatated....... biz is bad for the most part.
I spent the last 2 weeks watching the others stores in my area, there slower than I am. People just do not seem to be tanning right now.

People are tanning right now in many most markets. I am sure that you are in a market different than most where tanning is down. For other markets tanning is active for some salons while tanning for other salons it is not.

Wisdom would suggest that those salons must be doing things differently to have different levels of activity. Just something to consider.

10-10-2014, 01:29 PM	#1 (permalink)
GBoucher Join Date: Jul 9 2013 Location: Ma. Posts: 87 Rep Power: 0	Close to closing! Any Ideas? After an OK August, This Sept and so far this Oct. have been dissmal. I am down at least 50% or more from last year. I have been running specials, offering 1/2 price Mondays and Saturdays, Posting on Facebook and at local businesses and college. I paid the local newspaper to run a coupon for 1/2 price tanning. I didn't get one response. the newspaper salesman was shocked. I am offering 1/2 price tanning to the college students and still little business. I am one of only 2 salons in the area and the other one is much more expensive. I have good prices and good beds. Dr. Muller Sungate, Sunvitale, Solarwind 5000 and 4000.,2 SunCapsules. I am about a month or so from closing if it doesn't pick up. The only option i have right now is to try and get the landlord to lower my rent a lot. he may be open to it since he has several other spaces that have been vacant for a year or so. Other than that i don't know what else i can do. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated

10-10-2014, 06:03 PM	#2 (permalink)
parrot head Team TanTalk Join Date: Jul 13 2004 Location: Menomonie, Wi. Age: 82 Posts: 3,145 Rep Power: 22	Re: Close to closing! Any Ideas? If it's any consolation, you are not alone. I have had a terrible year, although September was robust. October is now back in the doldrums. September was good because I run all these specials in order to get the college students to lock in. Well you know what that brings, nobody buying anything for the rest of the semester. You have to try to make it to the busy season which begins mid December, then hopefully you can make it until Jason. If I can make it until then, I will look at closing up shop July through August, and hitting it hard in September. It's a vicious cycle that we must endear.

10-10-2014, 06:12 PM	#3 (permalink)
DH Join Date: Dec 13 2001 Location: MD Posts: 298 Rep Power: 23	Re: Close to closing! Any Ideas? First off STOP with the discounts and this half price crap. I'll bet your much higher priced comp is doing well. I too am higher (per my comp) than my comp and we're doing well. You're cheapening your salon and turning your clients away by doing this. This summer we started to sell weekly tanning that we've never done for a good price. We also, pushed our referral program...refer a friend and get your tanning free. For example if a month of tanning is $100, sell a week for $25. This makes it easier for clients to afford tanning in smaller bites and has the APPEARANCE of a lower price. We've increase our "New Clients" this summer four fold over last year.

10-13-2014, 11:15 AM	#6 (permalink)
Rich Join Date: Jan 27 2000 Location: Topeka Kansas Age: 68 Posts: 564 Rep Power: 25	Re: Close to closing! Any Ideas? In another life I used to work on going out of business sales and cash raising sales for furniture stores and waterbed stores. You can do a gob on a tanning salon but it is not nearly as profitable.

10-13-2014, 12:54 PM	#7 (permalink)
GBoucher Join Date: Jul 9 2013 Location: Ma. Posts: 87 Rep Power: 0	Re: Close to closing! Any Ideas? gob on a tanning salon?

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