Island Sun Times - Season In Review!

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Real Numbers
“Season in Review” 2003 To Provide Industry Outlook

by John P. Ribner

It’s time for Island Sun Times’ third annual Season in Review survey!

War, an unsure economy, inclement weather – there were many factors that could have affected this year’s peak season. But did they? Or was it “business as usual” and a banner year for salons across the country? Island Sun Times wants to know. So, for the third time in as many years, we’re asking you to take part in our Season in Review survey – this will help provide real numbers and a detailed snapshot of what this year’s peak season was really like.

Fast, Easy And Anonymous
Island Sun Times’ Season in Review survey asks salon owners to tell us how their business fared from January to July. We at IST know that salon professionals lead busy lives, so we made sure that filling out this survey won’t take long – you can do it online!

To participate in the Season in Review, simply click here, and the questions will pop up in a box on the screen. See it? Great! Now take a moment to complete it, click submit and the answers are sent directly back to us. It’s that simple.

There’s another way to get your survey results to us – by clicking here, you can download our survey in PDF format (click here to download Adobe's FREE Acrobat Reader), complete and send it to us by mail or fax. The mailing address is 5152 Commerce Rd., Flint, MI 48507, and the fax number is 810.230.1115.

Please keep in mind that Season in Review is an anonymous survey. The information you provide will be presented only in a statistical format. IST will NOT publish your name or the name of your salon anywhere in the Season in Review report, nor will we release this info to anyone.

Meaningful Data
There is a reason IST wants you to answer these survey questions: we plan to compile the data submitted from salon pros all across the country and analyze the results in an accompanying feature story for the October/November issue. These numbers will provide a detailed look at this year’s peak season and compare it to the 2002 season. More importantly, this will help establish certain benchmarks – points of reference for salon pros to use to measure their business. From the data that you provide us, we can give the means of determining three specific financial benchmarks:

• Revenue earned per tanning unit
• Revenue earned per square foot
• Average revenue per-tanner

The importance of establishing these benchmarks is significant. Currently, the indoor tanning industry has no unified set of standards with which to measure how well U.S. salons are doing. That means, for example, that a salon owner in Chicago with 12 tanning units – two VHR and one high-pressure – has no way of comparing her salon to one in Florida with seven units – three high-pressure and four vertical booths. Establishing these benchmarks will allow salons all across the country to communicate with each other in a common language. In other words, salon owners will be comparing apples to apples, instead of apples to oranges.

SoBe There!
Would you like to win a room for two at Solar Seminar VI in sunny South Beach, FL? Of course you would. It’s the tanning industry’s No. 1 networking event! Well, to be eligible to win a room at the event “where tanning’s elite meet,” you have to take part in this survey. Every salon pro who completely fills out the Season in Review survey and includes their name, business name, address and phone number, is entered into a random drawing for the SoBe ’03 V.I.P. Inclusive Package for two, valued at $899 (airfare not included). IST Publisher Vince Lorraine will draw the name of the lucky winner, who will be featured in the October/November issue, along with the survey’s results.

This Is Important!
Vince Lorraine encourages tanning pros to take part in this survey. “One of the reasons IST was founded was to serve as the tanning industry’s No. 1 source of information,” he stated. “Many industries conduct studies that gather and present data in order to reflect the state of business; since we’re a seasonal business, IST chose to look at the prime time for business activity – January through June. This is a very important survey; the more that salon professionals participate, the more reflective of our industry the report will be.”

The only way to find out how business went this year is to go to the heart of the industry – the tanning salon professionals. IST is counting on your help! Please answer the survey questions and get them to us by 9/30/03. You’ll be glad you did!


Link to this article:
http://www.islandsuntimes.com/08-03/08-03_f_season.htm

Link to Form:
http://www.islandsuntimes.com/08-03/08-03_sir_form.htm

We encourage all Salon Owners to fill out the form and send in their results!

Thanks!


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[ This Message was edited by: solid on 2003-08-19 16:19 ]

[John Ribner]

There another good thing about the Season in Review - one lucky participant will be going to Solar Seminar VI, aka SoBe '03, courtesy of Island Sun Times!

To be eligible to win a room at the event “where tanning’s elite meet,” you have to take part in this survey. Every salon pro who completely fills out the Season in Review survey and include your name, business name, address and phone number, to be entered into a random drawing for the SoBe ’03 V.I.P. Inclusive Package for two, valued at $899 (airfare not included). IST Publisher Vince Lorraine will draw the name of the lucky winner, who will be featured in the October/November issue, along with the survey’s results.

So fill 'em out and get 'em back to us for a chance to win accommodations at the tanning inndustry's No. 1 networking event.

[jungle kitty]

OK I filled it out and am keeping my fingers crossed that I won the trip!!

[John Ribner]

You never know ...

[Shantilly]

hey ribby....it has no canadian provinces listed, does that mean you dont want our info??