With a new formula for its most recent effort, American Sun Systems’
13th Annual Tanning Expo was a huge success.
In all, more than 750 salon professionals from 11 states attended. The
distribution company was able to pack a lot of valuable training, education
and fun into one day, including presentations by many of the industry’s
top manufacturer reps, 12 breakout sessions, a mini tradeshow floor and
a panel discussion featuring top industry personalities. The event’s first
day concluded with the traditional evening social held at the Sheraton’s
Club 5th Season, which was sponsored by Supre. The following day, Joe
Levy of the International Smart Tan Network, hosted a salon operator certification
course, in which more than 70 salon pros participated.
The panel discussion, sponsored by Designer Skin, allowed attendees to
ask questions of some of the industry’s top leaders. “We were delighted
with the success of this segment,” commented Cathy Stroud, Vice President
and co-owner of American Sun Systems. “The attendees’ questions were very
insightful, and were a reflection of the many challenges and issues that
salon pros face today. The panel members were so gracious in contributing
their time and talent.”
Lori Pfeiffer, owner of Sunsational Tanning in North East, MD, says attending
the expo was worth the seven-hour drive it took to get there. “We’ve been
attending these shows for the last three years, and they always provide
great networking opportunities with the manufacturers,” she said. “We’re
in the process of opening our fourth location and we want to use Eurowalls,
and the event gave us the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with
the company’s owner, Craig Colling. He was very helpful, and able to answer
all of our questions about Eurowalls’ new features and color options.”
Paula Poole of Mimi’s Tanning Shak in Knightdale, NC attended the event
with her daughter, Amanda Casper. “My parents are retiring in August and
I’ll be taking over the business, so I wanted to get caught up on all
the latest lotion products,” Paula said. “I found the event very informative
and helpful, and I’ll definitely attend again next year.”
The American Sun Systems expo also proved very beneficial to Scott Payne,
owner of Ultimate Tan, LLC in Chester, VA. In addition to all the training
and education he received at the show, he also was the lucky winner of
a great raffle prize – a Sun Ergoline Ambition 250 sunbed.
After 13 years hosting these events, Cathy Stroud says she and her husband,
Chip, are very proud of their most recent effort. “We started in this
industry as salon owners, and we remember how important training and education
were to our success,” she explained. “That’s why, once we went into distribution,
we decided to offer these events to help as many salon pros as we can.
It’s our way of giving back to the industry.”
