While the world outside Miami Tan is glitzy, glamorous and definitely fast-paced, inside the salon’s doors is a haven of tranquility. That’s the way owner Jack Hays wants his salon to be, and the results have been fantastic. After purchasing the existing salon five years ago, Hays and his family have turned the business around and carved a niche for themselves in their highly competitive market. Next step: a newer, bigger location in another upcoming market.

A Strong Move
It can be said that Jack Hays “muscled” his way into the indoor tanning industry. The 6’1”, 215 lb. former college football player came to Florida to work as a personal trainer in the fitness club industry. While the fast paced career was certainly exciting, he longed for something with a more relaxed pace. “I grew up in Iowa, and I had always been interested in indoor tanning,” said Jack. “I tanned during high school and college, and continued to do it into my adulthood. I knew that this was the kind of business I’d like to be involved with.” Jack’s first venture was a three-unit salon located in a health club where he worked as a personal trainer and fitness consultant in 1997. He developed that business for three years, but decided to close it in 2000 when he purchased an existing salon – Miami Tan.

MIAMI TAN
STATS:
Number of Locations: 1
Years in Business: 5
Number of Tanning Systems: 8
Number of Employees: 5
Other Services: Sunless Spray

Extreme Salon Makeover
Years before the home-remodeling shows became all the rage, Jack was doing an extreme make-over on his tanning salon. “Because of his schedule, the former owner operated it as a small, side business,” Jack said. “I believed the salon had more potential, and I wished to operate it as a full-time business; but in order to do that, I really had to make some big changes.” He started by completely replacing the salon’s older tanning units, which were holdovers from the 1980s, and replacing them with Dr. Müller equipment. He also redecorated the salon, which now features warm, earth tones, along with a black granite counter top, cherry wood desk and wood floors. “Coming from the health spa industry, I know my tanning salon also has to be immaculate,” Jack said.

Today, Miami Tan operates like clockwork, with eight tanning units and a sunless spray option. The salon offers five Dr. Müller sunbeds – two Orbits, two Onyxs and a Giant Sun. For stand-up tanning, Miami Tan has Sun Capsule equipment with two Perfect 10s and a Cyclone. Rounding out the salon’s menu are sunless spray sessions with California Tan’s TurboBronzer 3000. “Our clients absolutely love it!” Jack exclaimed. California Tan and Designer Skin are the lotions found on Miami Tan’s shelves, and the salon also sells body jewelry, skincare products, and fragrances that Jack’s wife, Heidi, sold at the perfume store she once owned. The salon operates on the SunTouch software system.

Busy Salon, Dedicated Staff
Miami Tan is certainly a busy salon – during peak months, Jack says the store serves about 300 clients each day. That number drops to about 100 clients a day during off-peak times. “North Miami tends to be a fast-paced, hectic type of city where everyone is very busy and doesn’t have time for a lot of things,” he commented. “Once someone walks inside our doors, though, all of that changes. We do our best to provide a relaxing, hassle-free tanning experience at Miami Tan – the best way to put it is that we offer our clients ‘down home’ service.” Jack credits this atmosphere, and everything else at Miami Tan, to his staff, whom he’s very thankful to have.

Miami Tan’s staff is unique in that it’s made up of Jack’s family and some of his favorite clients. Such is the case with his manager, Ken O’Cain. “He’s a former client who just started helping out when things got busy one day, so I asked him if he wanted to join us full-time,” Jack recalled. “He does a great job; we wouldn’t be able to do this without him.” Jack’s wife, Heidi, also works at the salon as well as their daughter, Jennifer Alexander, 17. The couple’s son, Dillon, 12, is already starting to do small jobs around the salon and will join his family on a more permanent basis once he’s older.

Popular Promotion
With so many clients, word-of-mouth advertising plays a big role in helping to promote Miami Tan, as do Yellow Pages ads. Jack’s most successful promotion, however, also utilizes the salon’s many clients. “Each month, we hold a contest for the client who can bring in the most referrals and it’s become very popular,” Jack said. “The first place winner receives one free month of unlimited tanning, while we award the second place winner five free tans and the third-place winner gets a $35 lotion credit. It generates a lot of excitement, and the winners love to see their names posted on our bulletin board each month.”

Heading North
Miami Tan will soon have a twin this September when Jack and Heidi open their second location in nearby Cooper City, which is 30 minutes north of the current salon. “That is an up-and-coming community because many people are moving there from the Miami area,” Jack commented. “It has great demographics and economics, and we already have a location chosen for our store.” To ensure their new salon will operate smoothly and efficiently, Jack, Heidi and Ken O’Cain will utilize the original Miami Tan location as a training center for all future Miami Tan II employees before the second store opens. “When we open our doors, we’ll be ready to go!” Jack exclaimed.

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paradise Beach Tanning Resorts are a testament to the determination of the two-salon chain’s owners, Sandy and Todd Mitchell. Always one to see something through to the end, Sandy opened her first location in Locust Grove, GA a few months after deciding she wanted to be in business for herself. A year later, the second Paradise Beach Tanning Resort location opened, this time at the suggestion of Todd and the couple’s tanning product distributor. Today, business is booming at both salons, and Sandy couldn’t be happier with her career shift to indoor tanning.

A Wise Decision
Even before becoming a salon owner, Sandy was in the business of helping people look and feel good; she worked for several years as a surgical assistant for a plastic surgeon. “I’ve enjoyed indoor tanning for a long time and one day, the owner of a local salon suggested I open my own salon,” she recalled. “I had enjoyed nursing, but I thought it would be great to be in business for myself and do something that I really loved.” Sandy says she’s the type of person who doesn’t hesitate to go after the things she wants out of life. She used this “take the ball and run with it” approach when it came to opening her salon.

Sandy’s Paradise Beach Tanning Resort in Locust Grove, GA became a reality very quickly. “Once I made the decision to do this, my husband, who is a builder, built the entire salon in less than a month!” she exclaimed. “He was a huge help in designing and decorating the store. Our salons attract sophisticated clients who want to soak up the rays in a relaxing atmosphere. From the murals to the soft lighting and sounds of crashing waves, the spacious tanning rooms offer an island retreat. The minute you enter the salon, the aromatherapy calms your soul, and the ceiling attracts your attention, reminding you of a starry beach night. The walls are finished in mortar and glitter, so at night, the salon glows. Our clients not only get a tan, they experience paradise.”

Sandy researched the industry and discovered that Tan Systems, (now Heartland Tan Systems), was about a mile from her salon. “Heartland was a huge help getting us started,” Sandy commented. After reading Island Sun Times and other trade publications, Sandy, Todd and the Paradise Beach staff attended industry trade events and distributor symposiums to earn salon operator certification. “It gave our entire staff the tools needed to understand the importance of ensuring that clients are satisfied not only on the tanning level, but also an educational level,” she added.

Act II
Although she wasn’t exactly ready, Sandy jumped at the opportunity to open a second Paradise Beach salon just a year after the first. Heartland’s John Fromme told her about an existing salon that was going out of business, and suggested she purchase it and turn it around. “John and everyone at Heartland has been wonderful!” she exclaimed. “They really went out of their way to help us get started with our first salon, and they were a huge help to us with our second, as well. We’ve really learned a lot from Heartland and we couldn’t have gotten this far so fast without them.”

Equipped for Success
Paradise Beach Tanning Resorts are equipped to ensure all their tanners get the results they want. The Locust Grove location has nine tanning units – three Sunliner 3202s, two Sunliner 3703 Turbos, a Heartland Ovation 154/4, a Tan Systems SunMachine, a Grande Sunrise stand-up booth, one Ultrasun 8000 and one Tan Systems SunMachine 48/8. The McDonough facility also offers nine tanning units – three Heartland Sunliner 3202s, two Heartland 41/3 Turbos, two 41/6 Sunliners, a Sunliner eight-minute 4100 and a SunMachine eight-minute stand-up booth. The salon also offers sunless airbrush tanning by Norvell. Both locations operate with the SunTouch salon software system.

Both salons are Australian Gold/Swedish Beauty exclusive. “We love their products and the benefits they offer through co-op advertising, and marketing and promotional efforts are fantastic,” she commented. “Plus, everyone there treats us wonderfully.”

Daily operations at Paradise Beach are a family affair; the staff of 13 includes Sandy’s daughter Hope, 17, her son Matthew, 13 and “daughter/manager” Alyssa, 3. You can always catch all of them at one store or another, according to Sandy.

Getting the Word Out
When it comes to marketing and promoting Paradise Beach Tanning Resorts, Sandy is no slouch – she majored in both subjects in college, and her knowledge is not wasted. Her most successful effort has been the “Tan Cards” – business cards that feature an offer of three free tans at either location. Sandy and her employees typically distribute the Tan Cards at local sporting and social events. “I never leave home without them,” she laughed. “I know that sounds funny, but it’s true. It’s a very cost-effective way to promote the salons because I do a lot of the printing myself, and it’s easy to track. About 80 percent of the people who redeem them end up becoming regular tanners.”

Sandy is also a firm believer in the power of word of mouth advertising. “Having a friend or family member recommend our salons is the best advertising one could ever hope for,” she commented. Paradise Beach is involved with their community and supports several non-profit organizations. You can catch them volunteering for anything from Special Olympics, Relay for Life, to Earth Day. “We enjoy helping people and giving back to the community,” Sandy said.

All About the Samples
Paradise Beach Tanning Resorts sells a lot of lotion, and Sandy is proud of that. “Education is the key!” she exclaimed. “We start pushing it from the very beginning. If someone brings in a product they bought at a retail store, we don’t allow them to use it in our equipment. This gives our staff an opportunity to educate the client about the importance of using lotions designed to truly enhance tanning results.” What also helps the Paradise Beach crew move lotion is selling packettes – lots of them. Sandy stocks many packettes for each type of lotion she carries. “Once they try it and see the results, it’s very easy to sell them the bottle,” she added.

Slowing Down – a Little
After opening two salons just a year apart, it’s easy to say Paradise Beach Tanning Resorts got off to a fast start. The future, however, looks a bit different. “I’m going to hold off on opening another location so we can have a little time to catch up,” Sandy laughed. “We definitely want to open a third salon in two or more years. One thing I know for sure – I won’t open it during the off-peak months.”

With her eyes toward the future and the present firmly in her grasp, there’s sure to be a prosperous future for both Sandy and her Georgia-based tanning empire.

PARADISE BEACH
STATS:
Number of Locations: 2
Years in Business: 2
Number of Tanning Systems: 18
Number of Employees: 13
Other services: Airbrush tans