STATS

The success of Electric Beach Tanning in Odenton, MD is proof positive

that indoor tanning is a serious business.

What can nine months of research and a rock-solid business plan do for someone? For Jim and Gwen Wint, it meant the success of their salon, Electric Beach Tanning in Odenton, MD. The husband-and-wife team has put their combined business experience with plenty of good, old-fashioned hard work into their salon, and the benefits of this dedication certainly show.

Time to Prepare

The Wints represent what the heart of the tanning industry is all about – serious entrepreneurs who recognize that owning and operating a salon is loaded with potential. The couple came to this industry two years ago bearing some serious credentials – Jim’s background is in marketing and sales management, and Gwen’s in retail operations. “I was itching to get back into business again for myself,” said Jim. “Some business partners and I purchased an old restaurant, converted it into a bar and restaurant and operated it for three years. We then sold off our interests, which left me with plenty of time on my hands to do something new.” Thus began Jim’s nine-month period of research into various ventures that would be suitable for him, which is how he discovered indoor tanning, and developed his business plan for the ideal salon.

The Big Change

When entering the indoor tanning industry, new salon owners are faced with a few choices – purchase an existing salon, lease space or build their own location. This was the case for Jim and Gwen. On December 22, 2002, the couple purchased an existing salon in Odenton, MD and immediately began its transformation. They cleaned it from top-to-bottom with California Tan’s Cal Care cleaning products, and re-lamped the salon’s 10, entry-level sunbeds. “From my research and advice I received from salon owners on TanToday.com, I already knew about the benefits that having different tanning levels and selling a full line of tanning lotions would have on our salon’s bottom line,” Jim said.

Electric Beach now offers clients four levels of tanning. In the level-one category are six SCA Wolff System Series 4 sunbeds. The salon also features three Royal Sun 30-lamp RUVA sunbeds in its level-two category, two Royal Sun 36-3 Turbo sunbeds in level three and the level four sunbed is a Royal Sun 44-6 Turbo.

Tanners at Electric Beach can choose from products by John Abaté  International, Australian Gold, California Tan, Designer Skin, Formulated Solutions and Orange Crush. Jim and Gwen, their two full-time and four part-time employees clean the salon with Cal Care products, and all operations are done with the SalonTouch software program.

And the Survey Says...

Jim knew that there’s only one way to find out what his clients wanted – ask them. He developed a customer survey card that he ran through with all the clients who walked through his doors, asking about their likes and dislikes of the previous store, what types of lotion and equipment they would like and what hours of operation would be most convenient for them. “This was extremely helpful because it told us exactly what our tanners wanted!” Jim exclaimed.

Join the Club

Some promotions are designed to get people in the doors and others to keep them as clients once they’re there. Given Jim and Gwen’s business experience, they designed a variety of incentive plans, the most successful of which is the Electric Beach Club Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) program. A 30-day tanning package costs $58; but by joining the EFT club for $88, that same package costs $28.88. In addition to value pricing, each member gets a gift bag filled with body wash, moisturizer, eye protection and gift cards. And, because Electric Beach offers different tanning levels, it also offers accompanying EFT membership levels – bronze, silver, gold and platinum – each including a certain number of upgrade sessions designed to get tanners interested in using that equipment.

Dedicated to the Industry

In his spare time, Jim is quite the surfer – Internet surfer, that is. On the tanning discussion boards TanToday.com and TanningDivas

.com, he’s known as “Ezliving Jim,” and participates in several discussions. “The people at TanToday were a huge help to us when we were starting our salon and I enjoy participating on the site and helping others who are new to the industry,” Jim said.  He is also an associate director of the Professional Tanning Action Fund (PTAF), a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting media misrepresentations of indoor tanning. “I’m just trying to do my part to support the organizations that are working to protect and promote this industry,” he added. 

It would seem that Jim has his hands full with the salon, online activities and volunteer work with PTAF. It’s true these things keep him busy; but he’s also quite the family man, and enjoys time spent with Gwen and her children – Jason, 26, Brandon, 23, and Jeni, 21.

Looking for a New “Beach”

After two years of successful salon operation, Jim and Gwen are happy to be part of this industry. The success they’ve enjoyed so far has inspired some big plans for the future of Electric Beach Tanning. “We’re very responsive to what our clients tell us, which is why we plan to add both stand-up and sunless spray tanning later this year,” Jim commented. “We’re also planning a second salon so we’re in the market for another location. I’ve been looking at every available site in the area, and once we find exactly what we’re looking for, we will begin the process of opening the second store. We’re very excited about it.”