Soakinuptherays

Are You Working To Put Yourself Out Of Business!Watching Out For Cannibals?The new wave in the tanning industry is for manufacturers and distributors to use their manufacturer cost or distributor pricing to purchase equipment and tanning products . They then open their own “chain “ of tanning salons ften in direct Competition with their customers. Many of the major bed manufacturers, lotion manufacturers anddistributors now own tanning salons around the country, maybe even one is in your town.A perfect example of a victim of this is Island Tan in Jackson, TN. For years, they purchased the vast majority of their supplies from a national distributor that happens to be located in a nearby town. Recently, that distributor started opening tanning salons, one of which was located in Jackson, TN in direct Competition with Island Tan. That wasn’t bad enough but to promote their store in Jackson, TN, the distributor offered a WEEK of FREE TANNINGdirectly attacking the customer. Contrast that with the fact the same distributor’s salon located in the town were their warehouse is only gave had a day of free tanning. Seems like a plan to run the old customer out of business!On February 26 and 27, 2000; Island Tan held their annual open house. It’s their preseason kick off with tanning specials, swimsuit giveaways, vacation giveaways and educational seminars as Island Tan flew me up to educate their customers and staff on indoor tanning products for that weekend. The distributors chain store responded byoffering FREE TANNING for the same weekend. In my opinion, this distributor chain is clearly trying to cannibalize their now former customer.How Do You Identify The Cannibals?By asking, if your tanning suppliers or it’s owners own tanning salons? If they do, how many and in what areas? What are their expansion plans for those salons? Think about the information your suppliers have about your salon. They know Your location, How many beds you have, What type and model of beds, how much lotion you sell, and what brands of lotion you stock.They may even ask about your customer count or cash flow questions. They may know exactly what your salon looks like fromservicing or installing the beds.------------------Greg KlesiusSoakin' Up The Rays, Inc.1-800-935-7625WWW.Soakinuptherays.comAwarded the First TSO Seal of ApprovalWWW.naatso.org

CHUNN

Greg,I happened to meet these people yesterday doing an install of Salon Net in their Chain of store. They were very nice people and spoke highly of you and your lotions!Michael

Tan-U-Too

This is not a new trend. Most distributers and many manufacturers where tanning salon owners beforehand. They took there knowledgeof the industry and created new products of all sorts. They grow just as most salon owners do. But knocking out your own clients is just not cool. On the otherhand, if you owned a BurgerKing and someone came along and built a McDonalds right across the street that's a chance buisiness owners have to take.