Revisit this Smart Tan Magazine cover feature from June 2025:

What’s in a name?

Shakespeare’s famous line from Romeo and Juliet suggests that a name is just a label – that it doesn’t define the true nature or value of a person or thing. But in today’s tanning industry, that idea doesn’t quite hold up.

While services and equipment are the foundation of any salon, your business name and brand representation must accurately reflect the experience, offerings, and atmosphere you provide. For most salons today, the term “tanning salon” no longer presents the right image.

Sunbeds are still the core service in virtually every business in our industry, but clients use sunbeds for a wide range of reasons beyond cosmetic tanning, and the proliferation of hybrid tanning is making that all the more apparent. The truth is, even the most traditional tanning businesses are offering more than a way to get a tan.

More importantly, diversification is no longer an exception; it’s the standard. Today, every major salon group and the vast majority of independent operators have integrated some level of wellness and spa services into their business models, with many of them having adapted their names and brand positioning accordingly.

So, in this article, we’re exploring a range of businesses from across North America that have embraced The Wellness Era in their own distinctive ways. Their approaches, equipment choices, branding strategies, and service mixes may vary, but they all reflect the same reality: success in this industry today requires rethinking not just what you offer, but how you present it – and what you call it.

Beyond Tanning

The vast majority of salons – even those who now put ‘wellness’ first in their names – still rely on UV services to drive the majority of traffic and revenue. But they’ve made a change for a reason. It’s about expanding the perception of what the business is and who it’s for.

“We still predominantly are a tanning salon; it’s probably 70/30 tanning vs. wellness. But that 30 does add up at the end of the day and has helped out tremendously,” says Revive Wellness & Tanning owner Angie Beaudry. “For me personally, it’s about marketing. It just really allows my name to get out there and to potentially have somebody come in who wouldn’t have if it was just a ‘tanning salon.’”

The benefits of repositioning as a wellness-oriented business extend beyond the direct impact of adding new and diversified services. You don’t have to like it, but it’s time to accept the reality that people who don’t tan typically don’t want to go to a traditional “tanning salon” for spa and wellness services.

“The name change has made a positive impact. Now we get people coming in just for wellness services. The biggest challenge we still struggle with his shifting public perception because people think of tanning salon in traditional terms, so we’ve worked hard to reintroduce ourselves,” says Danielle Tapparo, Salon Director of Bottoms Up Tanning & Wellness.

“Of course, transitioning into a more wellness-focused space took time. We had to gently shift the public’s perception of what a tanning salon can be. That meant a lot of education, consistency in our branding, and making sure our team shared that same passion. And now, we’ve built this beautiful community where wellness and self-care are at the center of everything we do.”

Perceptions of the tanning salon of old also persist when it comes to pricing. For decades, our industry has done such an amazing job at providing our customers great services for affordable prices that people have come to expect prices to be low. Providing unmatchable value is still the key to success today, but the goalposts have moved. Instead of offering the amazing deal of basic UV tanning for $19.99 a month, in most cases, we want to provide luxury tanning, wellness and spa services for $100 and up. Even while providing incredible value, that can be hard for a “tanning salon” to sell.

“My second location has only been open for [a few months] and has been a tanning salon for 25 years. So, when I gutted that salon and brought in all my equipment and wellness, I had some apprehension toward my pricing structure. But once they experienced what they’re getting for what they’re paying, I’m being thanked graciously. They’re excited now and see the value in it when they see something of quality and getting the results they’re paying for,” Beaudry says.

When spa and wellness diversification first entered the tanning industry, it was mainly about offering more options to tanners who are already there to look and feel better about themselves. Now it’s more about appealing to more people with little to no interest in tanning at all. Somewhere in the middle of that, there’s a large segment of potential clients today who should not be overlooked. Back in the late ‘80s, 90s, and early 2000s, tanning was far more prevalent. All salon owners had to do was open their doors and make a killing selling $5 sessions to thousands of avid tanners. But, as times changed, those younger Baby Boomer, Gen-X and older Millennials tanning fanatics have also gotten older, and many lost their interest in tanning for cosmetic reasons. The reality is that Gen-Z and future generations to come will never tan at the rates that Gen-X and older Millennials did. So, what can we do? Offer them other options, while also recapturing the older demographics with other services and a more tactful approach.

“We started seeing tanners coming back who had been tanning clients back in the day and reached a stage in life where they didn’t want to be a tanner, per se. But when we started offering these other services, they signed up for the package saying they plan to use the wellness, then next thing they know, they’re back tanning because they remember how much they enjoyed it, and it took the stigma away a little bit,” says Merv Byers, who owns Perfect Tan Wellness Centers with his wife, Lisa.

“The nature of the equipment for tanning has definitely changed. The psychology of people not wanting to be ‘tanners’ is surprising, but wellness is a whole positive thing, and you can reach the clientele you might have lost or people who might not have considered going to a tanning salon in the first place.”

Then, of course, there’s also the seasonality of the traditional tanning business to consider.

“I was doing well with just tanning, but not the best. Slow season was brutal in the summer. Ever since adding more of the wellness services, I don’t have slow season anymore, and revenue is about the same for the tanning side, if not higher. It’s just made a huge difference,” says Vanessa Uei, owner of AK Wellness & Tanning. “I’ve noticed a much more diverse customer base, and it allows me to market with the more medical side of things, like I’m partnered with the hospital, doctors, and surgeons, and they refer people to me.”

You can imagine the impact of the shift toward wellness on a larger scale for larger tanning organizations who have achieved these results across dozens or hundreds of locations, but even for many of these smaller operations, the change has been enough to completely reshape the futures prospects of their businesses.

Perfect Tan recently opened a second locations, and Byers says he doubts that would be the case without embracing wellness.

“With the new location, from day one, they don’t know us as a tanning salon. Tanning is a big part of our business, but they’re going straight to the package that includes all of the different offerings, including tanning. We’re still getting people coming in to tan for vacation, looking at it as a traditional salon, but most people are coming for the whole package. We’re as optimistic as we’ve been probably in 20 years,” he says.

Having rapidly expanded their wellness offerings since Uei purchased and rebranded the business in 2019, AK Wellness ran out of room(s) and moved to a new location last year. From eight rooms and 1400 sq. ft. starting out in 2018, to 23 rooms and 3200 sq. ft. today, the growth of the business has been more than Uei ever could have hoped for.

“It’s definitely exceeded expectations. I didn’t know what to expect going into it. Prior to buying the tanning salon, I knew nothing about it. I dove right in, took every course I could, educated myself as much as I could, and tried diversifying and promoting. When I bought the salon, it had a bad reputation, so I had to rebuild the ground up and rebrand and change the name,” she says.

Evolution in Action

If you’ve been following this magazine, you’ve seen countless examples of the industry’s evolution toward wellness, from larger independent chains to one-location operations. Most have heard of and seen the progression of some of the larger, more notable independent chains in the U.S., like California Sun Wellness Spa, Glo Sun Spa, and Sundays Sun Spa. Organizations like these have helped pioneer the new direction of the industry and consistently proved that individual locations are highly capable of doing $500,000 to $1 million-plus in revenue per year with diversified services and a high-value membership-focused business model.

Then, there are some smaller independent operators often featured by Smart Tan who have followed a similar path and built brands with “big business” images and quality despite only having one or a few locations. Some of these include Baja Beach Wellness, Carolina Tan & Wellness, and Lectric Beach Wellness & Sun Club. There are countless more examples of these types of businesses that have followed their own distinct paths to achieving new levels of success with a wellness-focused approach. Here are some of their stories:

Revive Wellness & Tanning – Yakima, Washington: A 15-year veteran in the tanning industry and having seen countless salons inside and out as a traveling bed technician, Beaudry took little pieces of inspiration from all over to rebrand from Planet Sun Tanning to Revive Wellness & Tanning

“I learned the most being in other salons and large corporations. I just watched, listened, and learned. ‘I like this service. I like what they’ve done. This would work for me in my community. This is a bad idea. This wouldn’t work for me,’” she says.

“I started super young when I was 24. The company name used to be called Planet Sun Tanning. I rocked that until about 10 years ago. I went to a trade show, and it made me think that I wanted to diversify and reach a different market.”

Having recently expanded to two locations, Revive now offers LED Full Body Red Light Therapy, LightStim LED Red Light Photofacial, Cocoon Sauna Pod, CryoLounge+, and Hydromassage in addition to spray tanning and UV, including a variety of hybrid tanning options.

When it was time for a change, Beaudry was careful to choose a name that would present the perfect image. As she noted earlier in this article, tanning remains her main profit driver, but the addition of wellness services while fully embracing the new brand identity has revolutionized the business.

“I put a lot of effort and thought into the word Revive. I thought I could have a lot of taglines and marketing materials related to that, and it’s all encompassing,” she says. “I rebranded the whole thing. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. Not only did the name change, but so did my way of doing business. I redid the floor model and pricing structure and rethought everything to make it more modern and adaptable.”

Perfect Tan Wellness Centers – Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada: In business since 1994 and operated by Lisa Byers and her husband, Merv, Perfect Tan is now in the midst of its third phase of evolution. In 2019, they went all in on wellness services and changed to Perfect Tan Luxury Tanning & Wellness. Now, they’re in the process of becoming Perfect Tan Wellness Centers.

“We’ve gone away from saying ‘tanning and wellness’ because our belief is that tanning is part of wellness, so rather than separating it, it’s all in one,” Merv says. “We hadn’t opened a new location since the beginning, but we just opened one last year, and with the whole new concept, it’s amazing how quickly you can grow a business having more than just tanning.”

Perfect Tan currently features a variety of traditional tanning and hybrid tanning options, in addition to spray tanning, red light therapy, Wellsystem Wave hands-free massage, Balancer Pro Lymphatic Massage, Salt Therapy Sauna, steam sauna pod, and Celluma light therapy.

AK Wellness & Tanning – Kenai, Alaska: At AK Wellness and Tanning, Wellness comes first – literally.

“The reason I put wellness first instead of tanning is the area I’m in. It’s a huge medical hub; there are medical buildings everywhere. Putting wellness first piques a lot of people’s interest. It gives me a chance to educate them on the tanning side also,” Uei.

Unable to tan because of an autoimmune disorder and also dealing with injuries following military service, red light therapy led Uei to the tanning industry. After benefiting from the service personally, she added red light to an existing salon she purchased in 2018 and just never stopped growing and diversifying from there.

She moved last year to grow from eight rooms to 23, and the location now features red light therapy, Cocoon Wellness Pod, Cocoon Aqua Pod, FIT Bodywrap, compression therapy, as well as hybrid and traditional tanning.

Serenity Tanning & Wellness – Brockvile, Ontario, Canada: Michael Schofield, owner of Serenity Tanning & Wellness, is an example of the potential for success even on a smaller scale. He and his wife purchased a small salon named Legends Tanning in 2023 with only five rooms. The simple addition of just a Cocoon Fitness Pod alongside a name change has been enough to amplify the trajectory of the business beyond his initial expectations.

“It’s caused a big growth for us. We’re a very small salon in a very small town. We’ve had quite a bit of growth in the last few months to where we’re going to get a bigger location. We changed our name, and wellness is a big part of the way we want to take it,” he says.

“The wellness side of tanning, the mental impact, the vitamin D, we can’t talk about any of that, so purchasing the Cocoon has helped people catch on and come in and try both. This will be our third summer. The first summer was scary, of course. It’s not a summertime business, but it’s looking like it’s turning around. People are coming in just for the wellness side, getting that vitamin D, and feeling good about it.”

Now the Schofields are looking to find a new location where they can expand their wellness offerings and continue to build upon the feel-good atmosphere and brand they’ve created in their small town.

Bottoms Up Tanning & Wellness – Vacaville, California: From “Tanning” to “Tanning & Spa” to “Tanning & Wellness, this Northern California salon finally found the right name that portrays not just what they offer, but who their clients are.

“The name change stems from our clientele. The people who come in here are definitely going to the gym, they play sports, and they live healthy lifestyles, so we went with ‘Tanning & Wellness’ because it gives us the best of both worlds. They love to tan and spray tan and love their wellness, too,” Tapparo says.

“We’ve evolved from a traditional tanning salon into a full-on wellness sanctuary, and our mission is all about providing a refreshing pause in the middle of people’s busy lives. Yes, we offer UV and spray tanning, but we also have amazing wellness services like cryotherapy, red light therapy, red light sauna, FIT Body Wraps, My Lipo, and the Wellness Pod, all aimed at promoting real results and real relaxation.”

After purchasing an existing, more traditional tanning salon, owner Kristina Gardner went to work creating a business that would not just be financially successful but reflect her own values and what she sought to offer her community.

“We just celebrated our 10-year anniversary, and looking back, it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come. The business was actually purchased spontaneously by our owner, and it’s turned out to be the best decision. She’s always been deeply passionate about self-care, wellness, and helping people look and feel their absolute best. From the beginning, her dream was to create a space where people could not only glow on the outside but also feel cared for, supported, and uplifted from the inside out,” Tapparo says.

At Bottom’s Up, “wellness” extends beyond physical benefits to include a positive state of mind, something they aim to foster through a relaxing, compassionate environment.

“It’s about the experience, the way a client feels when they walk in and, more importantly, how they feel when they walk out. We prioritize kindness, authenticity, and customer care above all else. We want every person who comes through our doors to feel seen, supported, and better than when they arrived,” Tapparo says. “What we have learned is that clients are looking for more than just aesthetic treatments; they want to feel balanced and cared for, and that’s what we have created.”

Where Versatility Meets Value

Curating a brand that properly reflects your offerings and attracts a broader audience is crucial to maximizing success in the tanning industry’s Wellness Era. But, obviously, none of that comes into play unless you have the right service options to support the transformation.

From looking at just these few examples, you’ll notice some trends in services and equipment. Hybrid tanning, incorporating UV and red light, is clearly the future for tanning itself and perfectly connects the dots between tanning and wellness.

On the wellness side, red light therapy is most commonly the top non-UV service in salons today. That’s convenient and probably not coincidental because it perfectly complements traditional tanning services. Tanning is sun. Red light is sun. As Smart Tan has said for years, “We are Sunshine.”

In the last year or so, halotherapy saunas, some of which also incorporate red light, have emerged as one of the most popular up-and-comers in the industry, offering a multi-purpose wellness solution in one compact, affordable unit.

It seems like nearly every salon started their wellness journey with one of the variations of the Wellness Cocoon, and that remains a practical and affordable option as an added benefit to all-access memberships. The same can certainly be said of the FIT Bodywrap. One of the industry’s earliest wellness modalities continues to be a staple in salons around the U.S., providing high ROI for a low up-front investment.

Along with service selection, the other key factors in building the foundation of an optimal tanning and wellness business are pricing and membership structure. The goal is to provide services that justify higher prices and create a brand and environment that brings in customers who are willing to pay more. But you still need to find the sweet spot. When competing in the broader wellness sector, our industry’s greatest advantages are our sizable customer bases, along with being mostly sustained by tanning revenue alone, and thus able to offer a variety of services at a lower price than any other spa or wellness business. Your ultimate goal with membership is to balance demand and profit margins. Make sure you’re providing unbeatable value, but don’t sell yourself short, either. It’s certainly a good thing to be busy, but if you’re almost too busy, it’s a good sign that it’s time for a price increase.

At Perfect Tan, members still get access to all their equipment for $89 per month, but some services are limited to one or two sessions for week, and they can now upgrade to unlimited access for $129.

“$89 and $129 memberships are basically all we sell now. You can get tanning for $50 a month for not all of our tanning beds, but probably 75 percent of people are on the wellness memberships that include everything. That’s what has driven revenue since 2019. The business has really taken off since then, and that’s after being in business for 25 years, just kind of sailing along hoping for some growth,” Byers say.

“The $129 membership is fairly new. We have so many people on the $89 one, and that’s why we came up with the $129. Most are still on the $89 level, but we’re slowly moving people up, and they can see the value in the $129.”

In some cases, higher-end services like SmartSun Therapy or cryotherapy are valuable enough to warrant separate pricing or limited access, even for “all-access” memberships. For example, while the cost of adding SmartSun Therapy to your salon is often less than purchasing a new premium tanning unit, its value far exceeds that of a standard service. Medical-grade red light therapy is commonly sold by chiropractors, dermatologists, and other providers in limited-session packages that range from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Including a service of that caliber in an unlimited membership could significantly undervalue it, so many salons choose to price it separately or create tiered access within their membership models.

At Bottom’s Up, higher-end options like cryotherapy and My-Lipo, along with their high cost-of-living location, justify significantly higher all-access pricing. There, a one-service membership for tanning or any one wellness service is $115. “Wellness Pass” membership that excludes tanning and limits cryotherapy sessions is $185. “Salon Pass” membership is $225 for unlimited tanning and wellness access, with the exception of a limit on cryotherapy sessions, and it’s an additional $200 to unlock unlimited cryotherapy as an add-on to “Salon Pass” membership.

Define Your Future

The Wellness Era isn’t a trend but a reflection of how far the tanning industry has come and where it’s headed. Today’s most successful salons are those that recognize this shift and embrace the opportunity to evolve, not just in services and pricing, but in brand, mindset, and message.

Because in today’s industry, it’s not just about what you offer. It’s about how you present it, who you reach, and how you make people feel when they walk through your door. Tanning is still the foundation, but wellness is the future, and the door is wide open for those ready to step into it.