tobysdesk

I have been spending the last couple days visiting local tanning salons to see what sort of equipment they have.

Four of the places in the city (3 franchised) use Sunstar 332 with facial tanners as their level 1 bed
1 Phase, 32x100 Watt lamps, 3x400 Watt Facial Tanners
http://www.insun.us/sunstar-332.php

Walk In - $10.00
100 Minutes - $42.00
200 Minutes - $72.00
300 Minutes - $101.00
One Month $49.95
One Year $26.96

These four places use the Sunstar 442 with facial tanners as their level 2 bed
1 Phase, Canopy 16x160 Watt lamps with reflector, Bench 16x100 Watt lamps, 3x400 Watt Facial Tanners
http://www.insun.us/sunstar-432.php

Walk In - $13.00
100 Minutes - $58.00
200 Minutes - $104.00
300 Minutes - $149.00
One Month $79.95
One Year $34.95

The three franchised locations use Sundome 548V as their stand up
1 Phase, 48x160 Watt lamps with reflector

http://www.insun.us/sundome-548v.php

Walk In - $13.00
100 Minutes - $91.00
200 Minutes - $166.00


One other place that I visited that is privately owned is using Ergoline Sundash 32 Super Power (No Facial) as their base bed.

120 Watt lamps - 32 Lamps - 18 in Canopy, 14 in Bench

http://www.jkamerica.com/content/ind...sh_32_1_32.htm

and their stand up is a Suncapsule 250 (Eclipse 25)
250 Watt lamps HP VHR - 54 Lamps

http://www.suncapsule.com/tanning-bo...ipse-250-7.php

I didn't get to see what their level 2 bed is. I know it has a 15 minute max though.

50 Minutes - $19.95
100 Minutes - $29.95
200 Minutes - $49.95
300 Minutes - $79.95
600 Minutes - $119.96
1000 Minutes - $159.96

Their level 1 bed is, 1 minutes = 1 minute, level 2 is 1 minute in bed used 2 minutes on account, and stand up is 1 minute in stand up uses 4 minutes on account

They also have an Ergoline Open Sun 1050

http://www.sunergoline.us/tanbed_pro...nsun_1050.html

1 Session $35
2 Session $60
3 Session $75
5 Session $100
10 Session $185


I was thinking of going with Soltron equipment; http://www.heat.bg/Soltron/Preisliste%20Soltron_BG_.pdf is the specs on all their beds with prices, prices are in Euro so not sure how accurate they are to Canadian. If anyone could advise on estimate prices that would be cool. I don't really want to start calling distributors until I do more research.

I was thinking with starting with


2 - XS - 35 Blueberry Blues Twin Power - is this a level 1?
2 - S-50 Peach Party Super Power - is this a level 2?
1 - V-55 Big Apple (Not sure if Turbo Power/Dynamic Power) - is this a level 2?
1 - HP (Mastersun 360 or Matrix L28) I like looks of this equipment - is there any other HP beds besides these two and the Ergo 1050?

I am still undecided on if ill get red light or not, so I may, or may get another tanning bed.

Any thoughts on what I have discovered so far? I really appreciate any input.

BuyersGroup

Stop worrying about what to buy until you know your competition which u seem not to know or are not telling us. How many total units per salon how many of each type how ma.y sq feet per salon

Soltton is ergoline

1, 2 , 3 mile demos for location you seem to have picked. Total number beds per level in each radius.

Goes on and on sunsally is right go back to basics or u will lose everything

delany

Do not do minutes.

Why do you qualify for low rate loan? Most banks will not loan money for salons. If you are leaving your job, how much do you need to make to compensate for that salary loss?

You understand it will be $200k plus to open a salon.

Also just because a place does not have a good rep or you dont think they are nice etc, does not mean they wont kick your but. One of my biggest comps was a nail salon with tanning beds. they were cheap, never changed their lamps, didnt sell lotion and required their clients to clean their own beds. But they were always busy. It baffled me, but pice was key

tobysdesk

There is two salons within 1 miles of my preferred location.

Salon 1 - is franchised - 7 beds all of them are Heartland Santa Barbara with 25 minute max, sq footage is between 1200-1400

Salon 2 - private - 6 units - Ergo Open Sun 1050, Ergo Affinity 500, Ergo Affinity 800, Ergo Inspiration 450, Ergo Ambition 300, older Sun Capsule, and an older 20 minute bed not sure of make.

Within 3 miles there is 1 more salon with 5 units. This is a hair and esthetics salon with some tanning.

They have 4 regular beds and one 1 stand up, not sure of the make but they are the same ones as pictured here http://sunsplashtanning.net/3.html

There upper level bed is a Starpower 548
http://www.insun.us/starpower-548.php

The development I was wanting to build is this one:
http://www.collierscanada.com/1980
If you go to related documents on this page there is a PDF about the development

This development is nearing completion and there is no high traffic retail hubs within 4 miles of location.

-Population within 3KM (2miles) 43,000+
-Average household income of the closest neighbourhoods is $85,000
-Beginning this year new area in city will start development with projected population of 100,000 when complete within 1.5-4 miles of location

Based on what I presented does this sound like a viable area to build in?

delany

10% max of the white population tans. Most places have under 18 bans. so figure out how many people fit that description, take 10% of that and split between the 4 salons (including you). from your 43k, that leaves you 4300 so about 1k people to tan per salon...I couldnt survive on that. now that 43k is going to include males, nonwhites (yes others tan, but that is a minority of that number). Just food for thought.

asantanningspa1

Red Light therapy is growing in popularity. We offer this service at our salon, A Santanning Spa. I have personally benefited from the wonders offered by Red Light Therapy. I was in a motorcycle accident a few years back and scared my face up pretty bad. I used red light therapy for a few months and dramatically reduced the appearance. My website has images and more information on the service. Also, if you are thinking about opening a tanning salon, you should start looking into how you are going to reach people. The internet is a great place with lots of potential. Feel free to get some ideas from my site. http://www.asantanningspa.com

tobysdesk

My thoughts are;
Good rule in naming is, keep it short - 3 syllables or less.

Also the word 'tan' should appear in the name, if it doesn't it creates ambiguity and people may not know what your business actually is.

I like nature/earthy inspired words in naming. So think of a good one then add tan to the end of it.

Vic2001

Whatt??

House of Tan

Mobile spray tanning

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BuyersGroup

Based on your answer to my question the 3 salons already there are combined doing very little business another salon would kill all of you.

So i would look at a different area with better demos or less competition