IST contributing writer Joe Schuster solicited feedback regarding our June Cover Story, “Should Teen Tans Be Banned?” These industry veterans had plenty to say about it!
I spent five years making trips to our state capital to testify at committee hearings and lobby our state officials on behalf of the industry. This past year, we finally just lost the numbers game to those who believe they are saving people from a terrible fate. I know you (Joe) and many in the industry have been fighting this on many fronts, but the real impact is not that these laws will put salons out of business – most have (and had) less than 10% of their business volume with minors. The real impact is that if you pass a law that says tanning is harmful to minors, how is it not harmful to tan in general? Perceptions become realities and with the onslaught of negative media (mostly soundbites and unsubstantiated studies quoted with old or irrelevant data), the combined effect is that our business as a whole is marginalized. You have to fight the fight to defend the notion that we are not businesspeople who woke up one morning and said, “Let’s open tanning salons and give our friends, neighbors and their children cancer.” The whole idea that the tanning community is collectively conspiring to harm our communities offends me to the core! Which leads me to my next point …
I have railed on this from day one regarding minors tanning. It is a simple point: Legislature, it is none of your business! It does not take a village to raise a child. It takes parental involvement. If my child walks into my home with a tan in November in Washington State and hasn’t been on a two-week vacation, I KNOW THEY ARE TANNING! As most teenagers are not gainfully employed, it is likely that they drove their parent’s car to the salon and are using their parent’s card or account to buy tanning. It is likely that their parents are patrons at the same salon. The ‘Nanny State’ approach to this is obvious and when I have pointed this out to many of our state’s representatives, the response was, ‘Yeah, so what?’
The culture of this type of legislation is all too prevalent around the country today. You (Joe) have harped on the fact that nobody attempts to close lakes, ball fields, tennis courts, cruise ships and pools – all unregulated except by big pharma sunscreen manufacturers that tell us it is all okay if we buy and use their products.
Last comment … You may not want to go here, but my favorite question for our Nanny State friends goes like this: So, my 16-year-old daughter can make life and death decisions operating my car and drive it to an abortion clinic and make another life and death decision without my permission but she is not capable of making a decision about her own health when it comes to tanning. Could you please explain this conundrum to me? I have never gotten a legislator to respond to this question. They all attempt to dismiss it or pretend to be offended by it.
I have more but you have heard it all.
Brad Kelly
Kelsun Distributors
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If 20 years ago the states all initiated a comprehensive regulatory environment with regard to tanning beds, I believe the industry would be in better shape today. The fact of the matter is that half the states will find it easier to ban tanning beds than to regulate them. This statement goes against everything I believe in; however, I believe it to be true as is seen with tobacco and alcohol. The ‘Wild West’ nature of the tanning industry left us extremely vulnerable to outside attacks.
The sad truth is that lawmakers make laws, and if they are not making laws, they are not doing their jobs. They are always on the lookout for new legislation and only avoid it when it is politically dangerous for them to do so. Attacking the tanning industry has a huge upside and a limited downside for most politicians, and this ‘law pollution’ is the sad state of affairs in America today.
Dave Unvert, Former Owner
Always Tan – San Diego, CA
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Salons should teach sunburn prevention and tanning in moderation. We should be skin-typing and suggesting tanning times to our clients. There are no regulations on teens being outdoors getting UV exposure, why ban them from coming into a controlled environment where we can have their parents and our educated staff set guidelines and suggested tan times? Until there are regulations on outdoor UV, there should not be regulations for our teens indoors – that is a parent’s job to make the decision. We need to keep educating our staff.
Cami Hondel
Local Acapulco Tanning
Studio – South Portland, ME
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I’ve been a tanning salon owner for 28 years, operating two facilities with 40 tanning beds at each location. I have seen a lot of changes in the tanning business in the past five or six years. Just ten years ago, the tanning customer numbers were great and new salons were opening up all the time. Now, it’s just the opposite. I am very concerned right now for the tanning industry.
Since the Tan Tax started, the numbers keep falling every year. A lot of salons in our area have closed and the ones that remain are now discounting the rates to the point of no profit anymore.
When I started this business back in the 80s, I sold one 30-minute tan for $8. I sell one 20-minute tan now for $8. I have never raised my single session price. I now have two salons with units that have a lot of hours on them; they are showing their age, but there is no way I would think about buying new beds the way the industry is headed right now.
So what are the answers for the tanning business? We have a lot of powerful associations against us right now. We don’t tan teens like we used to. Ten years ago, high school tanners represented huge numbers and now are less wthan half of what we used to see. I think that if they pass the teen ban, they will not stop there – I think they will go after a total tan ban. So part of me says we need to make a stand now before it gets to the next step. My concern is that if we make a stand on the teen bans, it just puts more negative press out there. It always seems like if there is any story on tanning it is always from a negative point of view. The story will be on somebody who abused the sun and tanning beds for many years and will put that person front and center. They will use the scare tactic. One idiot will ruin it for the rest of us.
I don’t really have a solution to the problem. I wish I did, because I would like to help our industry. I know we have been pushing moderation in tanning for years, but I think that’s falling on deaf ears. This industry is bullied – the bully keeps picking on the smaller guy because the little guy can’t fight back. We can never say anything positive about tanning! We basically can never stand up for our industry.
Maybe it would help if some in the industry loosened their grip on ‘positive effects’ a little.
Charles Hagen
Tanning Salon Owner
