Colorado Tanning Basks In Success

LAKEWOOD, CO (Wednesday, September 10, 2003) - What started out as a look at local tanning business from the angle of a mega-franchise in the Aug. 18 Denver Business Journal became a more comparative feature story, thanks to the reporter's experience in a start-up salon.

Adrienne Anderson, the article's author, explains that tanning used to be viewed negatively, but that attitudes are changing. "The combination of sunless tanning technology, education and vanity has created a formula for success that just keeps growing," she writes.

"She was going to do a story about the tanning industry as a whole, and she was mostly going to do a story with Executive Tans, which is the biggest out here as far as franchises go," Keith Rodenberger, president of The Palms Tanning Resort in Greenwood Village, Colo., told LOOKING FIT. "She came into our salon because she heard about us somehow. She had an awesome time. She just was amazed at how successful we've been."

Anderson spent two hours at The Palms getting the resort treatment, including a session in the salon's Mystic Tan unit. She mentioned the spray booth in her article, saying the salon's unit paid for itself within two months. Sunless also is popular with the Denver Broncos cheerleaders, she writes; The Palms is the squad's official tanning salon.

In June, The Denver Post ran a similarly positive article. Both stories refer to Lakewood, Colo. based Executive Tans and its president, Wayne Smeal. Also like the Post, the Business Journal provides a comprehensive look at the business of tanning. But the latter compares and contrasts Executive Tans--what Smeal calls a "sophisticated refuge for busy, tan-starved professionals"--with the tropical decor of the locally owned Palms.

"The glow of the industry is not just reserved for established franchises," author Anderson writes. "One locally owned startup, Palms Tanning Resort, has sold 15,000 tans since February and owner Keith Rodenberger projects this year's revenues at $250,000."

Rodenberger says his total tans stand at more like 17,000 since it first opened its doors on Valentine's Day. The Palms has added flair to the traditional tropical look, opting instead for a resort atmosphere achieved partly through more money spent during a longer start-up period.

In the article, Rodenberger gives his take on the tanning industry in general and his business in particular. In fact, he and his wife, Holly, are pictured prominently in the article, with a thumbnail teaser on the front page.

"As far as the industry is concerned, we always could use good stories like that--showing success in the industry, showing that people are doing well, that people are tanning, that it's a lot of fun," he told LOOKING FIT. "The more press that we can provide, the better off we're all going to be."

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