weezey66

I am opening a salon with a little less than 600 sq. ft. to work with. I am looking at 3 Sunstar 332, a Hydromassage, and a Sundome.
Give me input----any and all is appreciated!

studio 102

600 sq ft is small. It can be done, but equipment needs to be very selective. You will be limited in your offerings. Also, retail space would be limited, which could hinder sales growth.

The one benefit is, rent/overhead would be less. Smaller rental, utilities etc. That said, I would go with 2 base beds of 34-38 100wlamps, 1 mid-VHR of 40-42 lamps and facials 160/100R, 1 VHR of 48-50+ 160/160-180lamps, and a standup of 200w (180s).

What is around the location? Other business types, demographics etc. All this could play into it.
I am a firm believer that bigger is not always better. I have seen 30 bed salons sit empty in season, and 5/6 bed places packed. Quality service with BEST equipment would bring them. 'Build it, and they will come'
Good Luck!

Neon Beach

Future problems may include no room to expand if/when needed.

engfant

You are going to EAT that hydromassage. Also, unless you have an A/C that kicks *** you are going to overheat your salon. With ETS beds they won't survive. I have 1200sqft and 6 machines and it's REAL HOT somethimes. Oh yeah LOOSE THE HYDROMASSAGE.

jkonturas

I agree w/ Engfant on this one!! A small salon in my town has 3 SunStar beds and a Sun Dome Booth..... It is 650 sq. feet, REALLY cramped, and CRAZY HOT!! The a.c. doesnt even come close to what needs to be done. Hydromassage....LOL... Here is some advice, take the money you were gonna spend on the hydromassage, and put it towards some better equipment!! ETS blows, I reccommend Heartland Tan and TanAmerica.

engfant

The thing is is you DO have the Air flow to handle some high heat apps, then it could work. Cut back to 5 machines. 2 15min beds, 2 12min beds, and 1 stand up. From the setup you described you should get a Sundazzler for your standup, and go with either heartland, sunsource, tan america or anyother of the quality machines on the market (NOT ETS). You have to be careful about the more expensive and higher power machines. You may not have the electricity to run some of the bigger equipment. 600sqft was probably not designed with tanning in mind. Lots to consider.

weezey66

Thank you so much for all of your input. I am in a small college town with one other tanning salon. They run Sun Dash----it is super hot and dirty in their salon. They have one boom box sitting on a folding chair and are selling country quilts and glass cows. I know the business is here to be had. I have two teenage daughters and after school you see a bee line from the high school to the only exisiting salon. They close at 5 during the week and on noon on Sat. Everyone complains about these hours they are running. So, yes this is a small space but spaces do not come readily available in this town. It is mid to upper class America. My overhead will be minimal as far as my lease and we run on borough utilities.(cheap) I have hired an electrician to do whatever needed and my husband is a carpenter so the updates to the space we will do is no problem. I am dealing with Tan West for my equipment. And, people are estatic about the Hydro. I thought it would be a business that would keep me moving during the slow months. I am concerned about the equipment (beds) that I have been steered towards. Can you expand on knowledge of these beds?
also, I am goping to lease my equipment to free up my cash and it is a buy back lease so at any time I can upgrade or do whatever needed. I appreciate all of your help. I have a retail and marketing background. I was most recently a district manager and am ready to work for myself. Once again, thanks all.

Sqewk

Find a bigger place so u can grow.

weezey66

Sqewk
I know of one...it's out of my immediate town area....and triple in rent. Scary! I am in a comfort zone with this spot.

weezey66

engfant---why not ETS