During our first or second busy season, a woman brought her adult son in to tan. He had never been in a tanning bed but wanted to give it a try, so she purchased a package for him. Since he was new to indoor tanning, I explained every detail – how to start the bed, pull the canopy down, eye protection, fan, etc. I left his tanning room and locked the door behind me, and in a few minutes, his bed turned on.
His mother and I were talking when all of a sudden the door to his room flew open and he came running out asking, ‘Am I supposed to undress?’ I guess I should have explained that part, as well! He got back into the room and the bed was still running. A second later, his door flew open again – this time he couldn’t find his eyewear. I went into the room, shut the bed off and told him I’d get him another pair. As I turned to go get them, I caught a glimpse of his goggles – they were on top of his head! While he finished tanning, his mother and I had a few good laughs, and he turned into a fairly good customer that year.”
Mitzi Keller, Classic Tan, Morristown, TN

One Monday evening last summer, we had closed the salon for the holiday and I was sitting at home relaxing when I got a call from the people at the restaurant next door to my salon to tell me that a car had just crashed into my store! When I arrived, I found the car wedged into the lobby – it was about eight feet in and had knocked the chairs into the wall, knocked over the water cooler and stopped about three feet from a huge 115-gallon aquarium on a stand. The driver said he had hit the gas instead of the brake because a water bottle had gotten jammed under the brake. Luckily, the salon was closed and empty and no one was sitting in the chairs the car had smashed. We closed the next day until I could have a temporary door installed.
It did get a lot of publicity on TV and the paper, which never hurts. Plus, I got all new frontage which was needed, new carpet and lobby for free from the driver’s insurance, which saved me about $10,000 in tenant improvements.”
James Plummer, Millennium Tanning Salon, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Recently, one of our clients got into the wrong tanning room. I was cleaning beds, and noticed that the bed she should have been in was running, the door open and the room empty. When she realized her mistake, she came flying out of the room she was in, buck naked, and ran smack dab into me as was heading back to shut the empty bed off. A couple of days after that incident, I saw her in the clothing department of a nearby store and I had to ask her if she was buying a robe to wear on those days when she goes into the wrong tanning room. We both laughed so hard that day.”
Shelly Gardner, Lions & Tigers & Tans, Effingham, IL

One of our customers had stolen tingle lotion from us. She came in one day and we stood behind the counter in disbelief as she held two stolen bottles in front of us and said that her old tanning place had given her the lotions since they owed her some tanning. We checked with our distributor who confirmed that the other salon never carried the lotion in question. Needless to say, it was a wake-up call for us, and we re-arranged our lotion displays, putting most of them behind the counter. Well, after two months she finally used up both of her stolen bottles, then came in one day to tan and stated that she needed to buy a tingle lotion. ‘Which one are you interested in?’ I asked. She had the nerve to ask for ‘the same one we sold her the last time’.”
Shannon Morrison, Bronze FX Tanning Studio LLC, Kent, WA

We have a few Sun Capsule stand-ups with attached dressing rooms, and they don’t have a center door between the tanning booth and the dressing room. One day, I was walking toward the back of the salon when I noticed a bright blue light coming out of one of these booths. I went to see if maybe the booth had started while the client was in the bathroom or something, and there she was – standing there with nothing but her goggles on, facing outward with the booth door wide open! I promptly closed it for her. She never said a word about it, and never did it again. On a separate occasion, one of my tanners stayed in the dressing room of the Sun Capsule Cyclone with the center door closed and thought she was getting a tan! She couldn’t understand why it wasn’t windy or warm like I told her it would be.”
Susan Lowes, Caribbean Sun Tanning, Springfield, PA

My dad, who is a funny guy who loves to be silly, was walking through the salon one day with my husband, who is more of the business type. As they walked, my father joked very loudly, ‘So, son, where are all the cameras?’ After picking my husband up off the floor, we explained to my dad why that comment really is not something that should be said in the hallway of a tanning salon!”
Brandy Moore, All Seasons Tan, The Colony, TX

After I advised a new tanner about the tanning process and how to operate the bed, she went into the room and proceeded with her session. I was in the back cleaning beds, and after about seven minutes I noticed the new client’s bed was not on, so I figured her session time was over. I kept on with what I was doing and about 30 minutes later, she came out of the tanning room and said, ‘Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.’ I asked her if she had pressed the switch on the wall or ever saw the sunlamps come on in the bed and she said ‘no.’ She figured as long as she was lying in the bed she would get tan!”
Jason Swartz, Velocity Tan Company Inc., McKinney, TX

Apparently, operating a tanning salon is anything but “routine”! It appears that almost anything can happen during business hours…and usually does!

IST thanks TanningSalonOwners.com, TanTyme.com and these salon pros for sharing their experiences. If you’ve got a funny story, send it our way!

-Original art by Laura Rapcka