Beyond the Tan

She changes into a spa robe and comfy slippers in the VIP lounge, grabs water out of the fridge then picks the services she wants:

 

Today, perhaps, she’ll use the hydrotherapy pod, which infuses her skin with moisture and vitamins as the scent of lavender wafts through the air.

 

Or maybe she’ll relax in a $5,000 massage chair in a dimly lit room with waterfall scenes and listen to music.

 

Then again, Geiser just might choose to spend a few minutes reclining in a white leather lounge while a $30,000 light-therapy machine holds out the promise of stimulating collagen production and diminishing lines under the eyes.

 

This is not the tanning salon of days gone by. Sun Spot Atlantis, with 6,000 square feet and 29 rooms, exemplifies a new breed of mega tanning salon that uses high-tech equipment and provides spalike services and ambience to please customers and stay competitive with day spas.

 

“It’s the trend, and we had to pick up our game,” says Ric Rooney, who, with wife Crystal, owns Sun Spot in Colorado Springs, Colo. He started the business in 1991 and enlarged his spa last year and now has more than $250,000 worth of equipment in the venture.

 

Similar mega salons are springing up all over the country, according to Looking Fit, an online site for tanning-salon owners. Tanning has matured into a $5 billion-a-year industry with 30 million customers, lured by a range of light therapies and spa services including massages and pedicures, nutritional drinks and even jewelry. You name it, they’ve got it, says Sherry Teal, spokeswoman for the American Tanning Institute.

 

For example, at Tropical Tan and Resort, also in Colorado Springs, Vicki Stermitz offers not only tanning but a variety of resort wear, including bathing suits, flip-flops and jewelry. There’s even an on-site travel agency.

 

“It all goes together — people who tan are often heading out on vacation. They need resort clothes and tickets,” she says.

 

At other salons, services include reflexology, manicures, pedicures, massages and, of course, tanning.

 

But it’s not just about the services. Tanning salons are also ratcheting up the ambience. At Sun Spot Atlantis, a tropical submarine theme makes visitors feel as if they’ve traveled far from the Rocky Mountains. The entrance has curved gray walls, and some rooms have portholes. Wire-encased lights above the doors look like those on ships. Some of the hallways are curved like an undersea vessel.

 

There’s also a children’s room stocked with a television and toys, and out front are tables and sofas where customers can sit and chat after their treatments, much like they’d do at a coffeehouse.

 

The backbone of the salons — the tanning equipment itself — has also undergone dramatic changes in the past 15 years, Rooney says. Some customers like to get their tans from the Mystic Tan booth, which sprays a mist of cosmetic colorant in about a minute and lasts about a week.

 

Those who like the old-fashioned tanning beds can use newer high-tech equipment designed to lessen the risk of sunburn and address skin-damage and skin-cancer concerns — although many doctors, as well as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, still discourage people from using tanning beds and sun lamps.

 

Tanning sessions on the old beds used to take 30 minutes and expose skin to 6 percent UVB rays — the rays that tend to burn the skin. The newer machines produce about 1.2 percent UVBs and the sessions last less than seven minutes.

 

“It’s more skin-friendly,” Rooney says.

 

And the salons are more fun, clients say.

 

Diane Gibson, who hadn’t visited a tanning salon in several years, visited Sun Spot recently and found the experience more enjoyable than in the past.

 

“I was surprised; there’s a lot of spa stuff,” she says. “It’s relaxing and you feel more pampered.”

 

Geiser is so taken by the salon — not to mention the after-treatment gatherings with friends in the front lounge — that you pretty much need a crowbar to pry her out. “I don’t want to leave,” the college professor says with a laugh.