For one salon owner, the simple act of purchasing a used tanning unit led to an appearance on the TV show “Shipping Wars!”
After nearly 19 years at his original location, Wade Ranard had the opportunity to relocate his Total Eclipse Tanning Studio to a new shopping center in Marion, IA. To celebrate the move, he decided to add a Soltron Shark high-pressure unit, which he purchased from a salon owner in Pennsylvania. This quickly opened the door to his 15 minutes of fame on the A&E channel. Wade explained, “The salon owner who sold me the unit made a bid to ship it on uShip.com, which is the world’s largest online auction house for independent truck drivers. Apparently, this is how the people from ‘Shipping Wars’ get their ideas for the show.”
When executives from “Shipping Wars” asked Wade if he wanted to be on the show, he said,
“Sure!” While becoming a “TV star” was a bit more involved than he expected, he took it all in stride. “It was a long, nine-hour day,” Wade commented. “It only took us an hour to install the bed while the rest of the time was spent shooting the show.” Wade described the experience as a lot of fun, adding that the show’s cast and crew came in did their jobs without disrupting any of his neighbors in the plaza.
While Wade enjoyed his November 18 appearance on “Shipping Wars,” he quickly returned to his back-to-business approach at Total Eclipse. He and his staff celebrated the salon’s 19th anniversary on November 1 and everyone at the business remains committed to introducing the people of Marion to the benefits of upgrade and high-pressure tanning. ■
