Dear Readers,
Every year, we ask members of the indoor tanning community to choose their favorite product and service providers by voting in the Industry Choice Awards – IST’s campaign to recognize the companies and people who make our industry great. It’s the only such campaign, and the participation is always exciting! Well, the winners have been chosen. Congrats to all!
No stranger to the Industry Choice Awards is my longtime good friend, Rick Norvell. The news of his recent departure from the tan biz was bittersweet; but, his retirement is well deserved and I have a feeling that we may not have heard the last from Rick! Read Joe Schuster’s article, “End of an Era” for a look back at Rick’s career in tanning. I’ll miss you, friend.
Norvell was recently acquired by Sunless, Inc., and Joe Schuster spoke with CEO, Peter van Niekerk, about their plans for the popular Norvell product line.
Popular again this month is the subject of increasing salon revenue with diversification. Jerry Deveney offers a piece about LightStim of Irvine, CA – this company received the first over-the-counter FDA 510K Clearance for its LED light devices used for treatment of full-face wrinkles. This means salon operators can offer this service – big news! Other great opportunities include the Fujimi Full-Body Massage Chair, and a franchise that could complement your existing salon if you opened one next door … check out Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa, “An Attractive Opportunity”.
A great opportunity for success in 2017 is Sun is Life® Training & Certification. One common complaint about salon operator education is the cost; high turnover makes operators reluctant to invest. Well, Team SIL has fixed that! At my salons – I require training and certification – I have less turnover when the staff is well trained. Sun is Life is just $99 per year/per location to train up to ten employees – just $9 per employee! The regular per employee cost is $59.95 … now you can certify your entire staff for $99 per year. In November, my Tropi Tan salon chain celebrated 37 years in business. Education and training have been key to my success … invest in your future and make it happen in 2017!
There’s so much great content in this issue – our contributors come through every month with a wealth of insight you can only find in IST.
This is our last issue for 2016, and at this writing, I look forward to a satisfactory Presidential election outcome, elimination of the Tan Tax, and sales at my salons going way up – along with the future of our industry.
Thanks for reading,
