Even in L.A., a city that has nearly year-round sun, folks are flocking to Brian Reason’s Electric Sun Tanning Salons in Silverlake and Burbank. Reason spoke with Jolie Gorchov about the business of running a tanning salon.
I got started when I was working as a production manager for Rod Stewart and Prince, and I wanted to get off the road and have my own business.
I don’t have any degree in business, I didn’t even go to college. But when I started out, I knew the kind I liked because I had tried many tanning salons myself. I met up with a distributor, purchased the tanning beds and found a space. My start-up was about $100,000 in cash. I borrowed some money from a friend who was very rich, some from my parents, and I had saved a lot of money from working on the road.
I opened my first store in Silverlake in 1987. It was close to my house, in a very eclectic, affluent neighborhood, and I said, “Let’s give it a shot.” Then I opened my second store in Burbank in 1988. Between the two stores I have an average of 10 employees, and one full-time manager, who stays in Burbank. She takes care of everything.
It does seem bizarre to have a tanning salon in L.A. It’s like selling ice to Eskimos, or sand to Arabs. But like any metropolitan city, where time is a factor, people want to get a little color without staying out in the sun. They’re doing it in moderation, and sensibly.
The smartest thing you can do is go to a tanning salon before you go to a tropical destination, or on a cruise, so you don’t get a sunburn. I’m very active outside. I take trips to Mexico; I spend a lot of time in the water. I keep a moderate base-tan year round. Then before I go on a trip, and in the summer, I get in the (tanning) beds more.
I don’t say it’s safer than the sun, but you’re in a controlled environment, with a prescribed exposure time. When you’re outdoors, you have all these uncontrollable things: clouds, overexposure, reflection.
People are being a little more sensitive about it and there are positive effects. It’s pretty safe as long as you don’t overdo it. But I’ve had to turn people away. I’ve had people come in and I have to say, “I can’t let you go on the bed, you’re sunburned.”
