Indoor Tanning is an Economy Indicator

I will pause for a moment to allow time for most of you to finish laughing at this article’s title….. Now that your done chuckling at my expense I will attempt to point out a few things that lead me to believe that Indoor Tanning is an Economy Indicator.

Before I get started I think it is important to point out that when it comes to the economy and discussions about the economy I typically stay away, because it is usually negative. I prefer to be more positive about thinks or at least try to keep a positive outlook in order to keep people motivated.

We started Extreme Tan and Smoothies, inc. in April of 2004 with our first tanning salon opening in Largo, Florida. In 2004 when we opened that salon it instantly became very busy, almost twice as busy as most of our competitors. We had an excellent 2004 and rolled right through 2005 with the same growth and success we were lucky enough to achieve in 2004, we added another tanning salon in Clearwater by this point.

In my opinion still very new in the indoor tanning industry humped into 2006 still very excited about the previous two years and our staff moving forward. We opened a third location in North Clearwater at the very end of the year with consistent numbers from previous years. Heading into 2007 with a brand new huge location and two consistent locations in Largo and Clearwater we had no reason to think anything would change.

After opening the third location and right through the early part of 2007 it was clear that something was up, sales were flat if not down meanwhile foot traffic was up. Our competitors really hadn’t changed or increased in size by this point which would have been the first thing I would have attributed to the deacrease. As we continued to change things up we finished off a tanning season that was lacluster at best and walked in to a summer of the worst sales we had ever seen, down by 75% in our bussiest location even with foot traffic being up.

Trying to recover from a terrible summer of 2007 we kept our heads up and ideas flowwing and prepared for a solid 2008. Things hardly changed from 2007 and by this point you couldn’t escape the news of the economic immplosion. For some reason we have always had amazing associates and managers that keep a positive focus moving forward. Things began to change late in 2008 while all forms of news continued to aid in the economic downturn, we started to notice a change in our tanning salons. Sales began to increase and rise above the two previous years, nothing like the first two years but certainly enough to keep me positive.

I know at this point many of you are wondering why your reading a story about a tanning salon company you have never heard of, I will get you there. Ending 2008 was a pleasent feeling, it was not for millions of people who have suffered through some very miserable times. As I sit here and write this and as we get ready to close out indoor tanning season until next year, we are seeing better numbers now than we have ever seen and yes that includes 2004 and 2005.

Like so many others I too believe the economy collapsed in steps, some business’s were hurt and felt the crunch much earlier than others.  Indoor Tanning was amongst one of the first undistries hit by the beginning of the economic down turn, other companies are just starting to feel it now and the stereo shop next store just started feeling it ayear or so ago. As one of the “steps” and an indicator of the economy we have seen the downside and have now began to turn around and show excellent numbers while doing so.

This is not an attempt to pat myself or the amazing associates that work hard everyday at ETAS on the back. Instead this article might help get someone through a crap day at the office, or maybe it will help a business owner keep their head up another day. Things are beginning to turn around and it is nice to see some of the news agencies actually reporting some of the positive as opposed to just the neagivtes. Not every business is doing great nor will every business pick back up right away either, remember the steps.. depending on which “step” your business or field is will dictate when it turns around.

Tagged as: economy, extreme tan, Indoor Tanning, news opinion, tanning industry