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Member of the Month, January 2012
Leigh Winston of Sun Resorts Tanning
Virginia Beach, Va.

Q: How has your relationship with tanning changed since you became Smart Tan Certified?

A: I’ve always loved tanning. As a kid in Virginia Beach, we would go out to the beach every day in the summer. We would lay out with baby oil and iodine and get as burned as we could because we thought that would get us tan. I look at how ignorant I was at the time and, gosh, I wish I knew what I could have done differently to help myself out. So, when we have younger kids come in, we advocate not burning. We try to tell them that you have to start low. No one did that for us back then.

Q: How do you think the economy has affected your consumers and your business?

A: I think people are definitely looking for a better deal: They want to spend less money and get good quality. It’s something you have to continue to provide and be on your game about. You have to work with distributors and keep prices good. Some of the salons around me are adapting, but it seems to me that most salons in the area do what the big chain does. For example, they have a monthly package for $18, and other salons have started offering the same price, but I just won’t go that low. I feel like we offer a better product. I wouldn’t say that we get less people just because we don’t have the lowest price.

Q: Where do you think the indoor tanning industry is headed?

A: I think we’re going to see another surge to be honest with you. We’re in a little bit of a lull right now, and I think that has to do with the negativity about the health care bill and Tan Tax. But we are starting to see a lot of stuff about vitamin D levels and sunshine. Once we start sharing the research and fighting the bad media, it will turn around. Spray tanning has come such a long way – it’s such a big part of the business. I think that within the next few years we will see a boom.

Check out this exclusive video from Sun Resorts Tanning owner Leigh Winston:

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