Island
Sun Times Salon Spotlight:
"Tan 310, Small Salon, Huge Potential"
By
John P. Ribner
In the two
years it’s been open, Tan 310 in Winter Park, FL continues
to thrive, thanks to the hard work of its owner, Karen Kaplan.
At 23 years
of age, Karen Kaplan opened a tanning salon, and although she
was younger than the average salon owner, she certainly wasn’t
lacking in business savvy. Thanks in part to Karen’s marketing
ideas and the growing sunless tan sales, the six-unit salon has
continued to prosper during its first two years – so much
so that she’s already looking for a new facility to house
and even larger Tan 310. After that, the next thing on Karen’s
agenda is opening another location.
The
Beauty of Tanning
Karen opened Tan 310 because she needed more than just a little
change in her life. “I was an aesthetician and worked in
the beauty salon industry since high school,” she explained.
“After relocating to Florida from Pennsylvania, I managed
a beauty salon for a while, but decided I would rather own my
own business. I started looking around the Winter Park area for
a beauty salon that might be for sale, but the only thing that
was available was a tanning salon.” This wouldn’t
be a problem for Karen – she had been an avid seasonal tanner
since high school, and the thought of working in the tanning industry
sounded exciting to her. “The tanning industry seemed so
fun and laid back that I knew I wanted to be a part of it,”
she added. It didn’t take Karen long to put everything in
place and open her salon.
What’s
in a Name?
Karen named her new salon Tan 310, as a nod to a good friend of
hers. “My friend, Meredith Knechel used to have a graphic
design company called 310 Studios, so I used the 310 in my business
name as a tribute to her,” Karen explained. “As it
turned out, this was a very good name for us because people might
forget a business’s name, but they remember it better when
it includes a number. That was the case with us.” Meredith
helped Karen with more than just the name of her salon –
she also lent her graphic design skills to Karen’s website
and advertising promotions, creating a hip, retro feel for the
newly opened salon.
Something
More
The former owner of Karen’s salon relied on four base beds
to meet his tanner’s needs, and Karen kept these units –
four ProSun 2400 – but added two upgrade units – a
ProSun Turbo Lumina sunbed and ProSun Delta 500 booth.
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