In most areas of the country, November is the month that kicks off the tanning season; my salon chain celebrates its anniversary this month, and we ramp up our marketing efforts with anniversary specials that are some of most successful of our season. So for the last 35 years, November has signaled the return of the tanners in my neck of the woods. I hope all of you had a great summer… now it’s time to get back to business.
The season is off to a very good start for Sun is Life® Training & Certification. I was proud that SIL was chosen to be the exclusive training and certification program at this fall’s first trade show, the FS Expo in St. Louis. For those of you who didn’t attend, all accounts confirm that you missed an event that everyone will be talking about this season. A very energized, standing room only crowd enjoyed the “secret keynote speaker” who was reintroduced to our industry: Lt. Col. Rob “Waldo” Waldman, a great guy and the most motivating speaker I’ve witnessed at a tanning event. FS Expo attendees were the first to see the new products from all the industry’s major vendors. Add to that a rockin’ rooftop party provided by Devoted Creations – what more could you ask for? I tip my hat to Four Seasons’ Ed Jerger for inspiring the attendees with his message focused on a unified direction for our industry – staying away from making health claims. The buzz is that the entire theme for the Expo made it a real game changer. Rumor has it that a bigger and better event is already being planned for next fall.
As the season takes off, be sure to keep reading your ist Magazine, particularly the features written by both John Ribner and Adjunct Professor/Sun is Life Director, Tony Brown. Sun is Life has taken a strong position regarding the negative impact of making health claims in our salons. It should be clear to everyone that promoting vitamin D to the public – which a segment of our industry has done for many years to their own benefit – has been destroying our reputations and our future depends on stopping it NOW. In fact, I learned as I wrote this that someone representing our industry made headlines just today by and pushing the vitamin D agenda in my own state’s capital (MI); nothing came out of it but more bad press. If you’re still not convinced that the health claims must STOP, look for an upcoming article in IST which will detail the significant damage the health claim agenda has done to our industry’s image.
Our goal at IST has always been to help salon operators be more professional and move our industry forward. Don’t miss the special “Tips of the Trade Compendium” section in this issue – John Ribner has gathered tons of great business advice from a group of successful industry leaders. And, tanning’s frontrunners are certainly represented by the Industry Choice Awards Nominees which are listed in this issue, as well (see pg. 154). I can say with certainty that even though the tan biz has been under attack, these people have stepped up their game to offer the new and innovative products to help our industry grow. Look for the ICA winners in our December issue.
You’ll find a sample of the new lotions from your favorite manufacturers in our 2014 Product Preview (see pg. 148). When you call your distributor partners to order these great new products, don’t forget to tell them you saw it first in ist Magazine.
Thanks for reading and a very Happy Thanksgiving to all!
