TAMARA HOOKS JOINS CALIFORNIA TAN SUNLESS
LOS ANGELES – The team at California Tan Sunless has recently been joined by Tamara Hooks, a nine-year veteran of the consumer beauty product and fashion industries.

After receiving an MBA in Management from Howard University, she spent four years of her career in sales and merchandising with Nike, Inc. while based in Los Angeles and Dallas. At Nike, Tamara earned the coveted Merchandiser of the Year award for outstanding performance. A transition from fashion to beauty lead her to an assistant product manager position at Mary Kay, Inc. During her four years with the cosmetic giant, Tamara developed some of the company’s best selling products. Her contributions in idea generation and product development were integral in the success of yearly product launches and marketing promotions.

Tamara is now utilizing her skills as Brand Manager for the highly successful California Tan Sunless brand. With the support of a strong team, California Tan Sunless is positioned to become the industry leader.

BIDDISCOMBE SUPPORTS SALON EVENTS
ST PETERSBURG, FL – Biddiscombe Laboratories has been participating in many salon promotions by providing free product samples.
Sunsational Tans & Massage of Lockport, IL held a Customer Appreciation Day in February. “We sent our new Deep Hawaii lotion line, complete with testers for enough samples for everyone to enjoy,” commented Tom Miller, Biddiscombe Labs Senior Account Representative.

Tans & Treasures of Blueridge, GA kick-started their busy season with a “March Madness” promotion. The salon staff offered clients samples of Biddiscombe’s Deep Hawaii, Maikai and Wiki Wiki lotions. With every bottle purchased, clients recieved a free bottle of Luana, Biddiscombe’s exotic moisturizer, and a festive lei.

DESIGNER SKIN OFFERS CUSTOMIZED TV COMMERCIAL
TEMPE, AZ – Designer Skin is offering salon professionals the opportunity to customize a professional TV commercial advertising their salon, as well as Designer Skin products.

“Our TV advertising package allows tanning pros to forego the hefty production costs and head right for maximum exposure,” commented Beth Felker, Designer Skin Vice President. “Salons can now have an affordable TV advertising package that directly targets their desired core demographic.” In addition, Designer Skin will reimburse the TV airtime expense up to 50 percent in product co-op. Contact Designer Skin for details.

CORPORATE UPDATE FROM STAYL
BELLEVUE, WA – On January 24, 2005 tanning equipment manufacturer Stayl GmbH joined the Zonnepark Holding Group (Ultrasun-Gardasun-Sunfit).

To better fulfill the worldwide increasing demand for the FreeSTAYL line of tanning systems, the production facilities have been relocated to a new 70,000 square-foot factory in Salzbergen/Rheine Germany. Since 1974, Stayl has been a world leader in professional tanning equipment and UV lamps.

PURETAN UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP
DALLAS, TX – Puretan announced in February that Steve Cantrell, a Puretan sales and marketing vice president since 2001, purchased all company shares of the tanning product maker from Roger A. Brown and Robert J. Baba and has assumed total operational control of the indoor tanning equipment manufacturer.

The company, which offers the Puretan and TanScene tanning lines as well as modular wall systems, had been divided equally between Brown and Baba since 1986. While neither Brown nor Baba will hold an official position with the company, they will remain close and serve periodically as consultants.

“I’m thrilled to be obtaining a company with nearly a twenty-year record of producing some of the best built beds in the industry. Salon owners will continue to rely on the same durability and efficiency of Puretan systems they have come to expect,” Cantrell commented. “However, there can be no doubt that there’s room for immediate improvement in other areas and I’m acutely aware of what they are. They’ll be addressed and Puretan will be an easier company to do business with.”
Prior to joining Puretan, Cantrell was head of sales at Sportsware Technologies, a Plano-based golf course marketing firm responsible for Play18.com. He also served as the sales and education supervisor for International Concepts Group, and began his career in the highly competitive sales division of Bally’s Fitness.

SUNFIT LIGHTING COMPANY APPOINTS VICE PRESIDENT
THE NETHERLANDS – In view of the planned further expansion and its new expanded lamp range, Sunfit Lighting has appointed Ad Brand as Vice President.

Brand is a well known indoor tanning pioneer, leading the Philips tanning division in Europe for many years to market leadership. The last two years, Brand introduced Philips lamps with great success in the U.S. market. He also founded the European tanning association ESF, later called ESA.

Based in the Netherlands, Sunfit Lighting, is a leading tanning lamp supplier worldwide. Commented Brand, “Only top quality tanning lamps are fit to carry the Sunfit brand, so these lamps sell themselves as the best value for the money.”

SOLEIL SPA PROMOTES HOLLY CORTEZ
AMERICAN FALLS, ID – Soleil Spa, Inc. is pleased to announce the promotion of Holly Cortez to Operational Manager. Holly has been an integral part of the company since its launch and continues to make corporate strides.

“Work just doesn’t seem to be an appropriate word for what I do,” Holly stated. “I love my job and I enjoy each aspect of it. I’m honored to represent Soleil Spa, not only because of their fine products, but also the wonderful staff.”

As a personal trainer, nutritional consultant, and previous spa/fitness club manager, Holly has a wide knowledge base when it comes to people’s needs. “She really understands what customers want and how to help them achieve it,” commented a company spokesperson. “Helping people look good and feel good is her specialty!”

GA SALONS SPONSOR SPECIAL OLYMPICS
MCDONOUGH, GA – Paradise Beach Resorts of Locust Grove and McDonough, GA are proud of their efforts in raising $2,000 to sponsor a child for the Winter Special Olympic Games held in Marietta, GA.

The salons’ staff volunteered at the event and cheered their special competitor to a third place victory in rhythmic gymnastics. Commented Paradise Beach owner Sandy Mitchell, “I made a friend for life with this experience. Getting to know someone this special has a life-changing effect.”

Parardise Beach Resorts has made a commitment to the Special Olympics organization to continue sponsoring and volunteering for future events.
Bravo, Paradise Beach! - IST

FLORIDA COUPLE OPENS 3RD SALON
BOCA RATON, FL – The January 15, 2005 grand opening of the third Sunsets Tanning salon in Boca Raton was quite an extravaganza! Drawn by the many tanning specials and good-time atmosphere, hundreds of people showed up at the salon owned by “Mike Zee” Zareczny and his wife, Noelle. The celebration included a free buffet and drinks, free one-month memberships with every lotion purchase, and free tanning sessions.

“We’ve always done what we believe you’re supposed to do in this industry – have fun, and make sure our clients do, too,” Mike commented. “Some people have customer appreciation day; we like to think that we have ‘customer appreciation year’. Every day in our salons, we have something going on that’s cool, new and exciting, which makes it a fun place for our clients to be.”

Mike and Noelle own three Sunsets Tanning salons, and have licensed an additional three locations. The couple is exploring the possibility of franchising more stores in the Sunshine State.
Congrats, guys! – IST

SPORTARREDO NAMED PREFERRED VENDOR FOR WORLD GYM
CHICAGO, IL – Sportarredo USA is proud to announce that the company has been named a preferred tanning equipment vendor for the World Gym organization. The announcement was made at the annual World Gym Convention, which was held in conjunction with the Arnold Schwarzenegger Fitness Expo in Columbus, OH in March.

“It is a great honor to be named a preferred vendor to the World Gym organization,” stated Gianluca Dianese, Vice President of Sportarredo USA. “It makes a clear statement about the integrity of our company and the quality of our equipment.”

World Gym, based in Marina Del Rey, CA, has more than 300 locations worldwide and is recognized as one of the leading companies in the health and fitness industry.

SUNBATHE JOINS LAUGHLIN’S LICENSE FAMILY
GRAPEVINE, TX – Laughlin Products (LPI) proudly announced that Sunbathe of Jonesboro, AR has become its newest licensee, joining a family that includes Mystic Tan (TX), Hollywood Tans (NJ), Jean Paul’s Tanning (Ireland), and Mist-On Tan (TX). The Sunbathe license is for the worldwide, non-exclusive rights to LPI’s patented sunless spray booth technology.

Sunbathe’s key players are former owners, executives and engineers of Sun Industries (AR). Sun Industries founders, Porter and Bill Hurt, were pioneers of the North American indoor tanning industry. In 1979, they adopted the popular new sunbed technology, then available only in Europe, into an appropriate product for the American market. Later that year, they formed the first U.S. tanning bed-manufacturing company, Sun Industries. Their long-time marketing director, Jerry Deveney, joined the team in 1986 and was instrumental in their marketing success. In 2000, Ergoline (Germany) purchased Sun Industries.

The Hurts and Deveney plan to use the same energy and expertise that made them pioneers in the UV tanning bed market to launch a line of sunless tanning products. Their flagship product will be their novel sunless booth. They are currently test marketing their booth in select salons under the name Cabana Mist. They plan to move production to a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility by May.

“Sunbathe will enter the sunless spray booth market with several things in their favor. Especially valuable is their experience as the forerunners in the tanning industry,” stated Dr. Tom Laughlin, president of LPI and inventor of the sunless spray booth. Dr. Laughlin went on to say, “There is an incredible parallel between the trials and tribulations they faced as they pioneered the indoor tanning industry and our current experience in the new sunless spray booth industry.”

Porter Hurt, Sunbathe president, added, “My heart has always been in the tanning industry. I’ve made a lot of friends over the years, and look forward to working with them again in this dynamic arena.”

MARCH MILITARY MONTH!
SPRING LAKE, NC – March was “military month” at Tanning Emporium in Spring Lake, NC. The salon, owned by Margaret Bess, is located in a town with not one, but two military installations – Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base.

“About 90 percent of our client base is either military personnel or their spouses, and these people make a lot of sacrifices for our country,” Margaret said. “Because of that, we wanted to show them our appreciation for everything they do.”

During the month of March, the salon offered all military personnel and their spouses a great deal on tanning – $5 off any package purchase, a free lotion packette and a free “Blue Bag” from Eye Pro, Inc., which contained three packs of WINK-EASE disposable eyewear and two packs of FRESH-EASE after-tan body cloths. Eye Pro, Inc. donated 300 of the Blue Bags to help Tanning Emporium’s efforts. “This is a great cause and we’re glad to help in any way we can,” added Brenda Fishbaugh, Eye Pro President.n You guys rock! - IST