Ray of hope: add more sizzle to your bottom line with tanning beds

Pool & Spa News, Jan 30, 2004 by Cynthia E. Griffin

For Tiffany and Steve Pope, adding tanning beds to their product line was part of an effort to diversify inventory. The plan worked like a charm.

The Popes estimate that tanning bed sales now comprise approximately 10 percent of their company's sales volume. "Tanning beds go well with what we do," says Tiffany Pope, co-owner of Spa and Tub Manufacturers, with one store each in Chickasaw and Saraland, Ala., and Gautier, Miss.

"We sell a lot of personal-type outdoor products--spas and swimming pools--and everything has its own season," she adds.

Offering customers a total home resort entertainment package was the biggest motivation behind the addition of tanning beds to his family stores, says Kevin Prefontaine, sales manager of the six Watson's stores owned by his father in Indianapolis; Nashville, Tenn.; Kansas City, Kan.; Little Rock, Ark.; and Minneapolis.

Watson's added tanning beds 15 years ago, not long after that industry's inception. Commercial tanning salons began doing business in the United States in 1979 and gained popularity in the mid-'80s, according to the Suntanning Association for Education.

Today, nearly 2 million Americans tan at home, says Joseph Levy, vice president of the International Smart Tan Network, a consortium of indoor tanning professionals and industry members. While Levy's Jackson, Mich.-based organization does not keep specific statistics on home tanning bed sales, he says the consumer market for "moderate, responsible tanning" continues to increase, which also pushes growth in the home-bed sector.

The growth of the salon market is a key indicator for Prefontaine and the Popes. It provides a steady supply of potential customers who are predisposed to tanning.

"My biggest customers are housewives, although men are becoming a larger part of the market as well," says Prefontaine, who pegs tanning beds as one of the top five selling categories in his store. In fact, they account for about 10 percent of his sales.

The Popes cater to families with teenage daughters or "young mothers, who have a hard time getting to the salon because they can't find a sitter," says Tiffany Pope, whose peak sales season runs from November to April.

"Now I'm also finding that a lot of businesspeople, who don't have time to tan during the day, buy beds for their homes," she notes.

Proper placement

To direct attention to tanning beds in showrooms, some retailers group them with saunas. Others use eye-catching, point-of-purchase display material that touts the affordability of ownership in relation to how much people spend at a local tanning salon.

"The beds together with the saunas help people get the idea that they can utilize both products together in a home-exercise and health-oriented environment," says Jeff Berry, president at Leisure Living Superstore in Temecula, Calif. He expects around 100-bed volume in sales during his best season this year, which runs from winter through spring.

In Prefontaine's stores, the tanning bed displays are arranged to create a scenic impact. "We set up 22 beds in a triangle along with a palm tree and goggles, lotions and other accessories. We want to create a beach-type setting," he explains. In many of his stores, this includes corresponding paintings on nearby walls.

Berry and Prefontaine sell only the horizontal beds similar to what most tanners use in salons. Tiffany Pope offers the traditional beds, as well as the stand-up ones, which she describes as more of a niche-type product.

"They take up about 20 percent of the floor space, and we have each one set up so that customers can lie on it, open and close it down or get in the stand-up display and wrap it around them," says Tiffany Pope, whose company has sold tanning beds for approximately 10 years as the result of a personal experience.

"My husband was trying to find me one for an anniversary present, and couldn't find one in the area," she adds. "We had to go out of town to purchase a tanning bed."

At that point, a new line of business was born for the Popes. In the early days, they had little competition. Today, not only are there tanning salons in the area, but a number of other companies also are selling tanning beds as a sideline.

The competition doesn't faze industry veterans, though. They rely on the longevity they've attained, as well as outstanding customer service to lure and keep customers. At Watson's, the Prefontaines count on exclusivity to enable them to control market share.

"Everything we try to sell, we find a way to be the only one in the market. That's an agreement we make with all our manufacturers," Prefontaine says. He adds that initially his company used buying power to coax an agreement from manufacturers. "Now people come to us. At this point, they're willing and understand the program," Prefontaine observes.

Cost considerations

Consumers shopping for a home tanning bed will find prices ranging from just under $1,000 to around $3,000. The average price will depend on which bells and whistles people want.

Pope says her average sale is about $2,200. People usually finance it through monthly payments that are comparable and, in some cases, less expensive than their tanning salon subscriptions. At Watson's, the average price for a bed is $2,400, with most people financing the purchase as well.