About half of tanning businesses say their business performance in the first eight months of 2008 met or exceeded expectations, according to a SmartTan.com poll conducted in early October. According to the poll, 47 percent of salons say their business performance fell short of expectations, 29 percent said it exceeded expectations and 24 percent said it met expectations.

The most recent Smart Tan poll, while not scientific, is consistent with polls throughout the season, which generally suggested that a third of tanning businesses were up from 2007, a third held consistent with 2007 performance and a third reported declines from 2007.

“While this poll suggested a slightly higher number of salons moved from the ‘met expectations’ column to the ‘fall short of expectations’ column in the third quarter of 2008, the overall trend seems to be holding that many tanning businesses are still performing well in a challenging economy,” Smart Tan Vice President Joseph Levy said.