Following a stronger-than-expected first quarter, indoor tanning business performance cooled for many salons as temperatures across North America soared in the second quarter of the year, according to a SmartTan.com poll conducted in July.

According to the poll, 36 percent of salons say business for the first half of the year is stronger compared to the first half of 2011 — down from 69 percent that reported a stronger first quarter of the year. More than twice as many stores — 43 percent — reported that the first half of the year was down compared to 2011, up from just 20 percent who said the first four months of 2012 were weaker than 2011.

Record warm temperatures in the spring and summer in almost all of North America may be the biggest factor in the second-quarter shift. “The season shifted a month for many sunbed businesses,” Smart Tan Executive Director Joseph Levy said. “It wasn’t a normal tanning season, following a strong first quarter.”