Briefing

Given Southern California’s notoriety for vanity, it’s probably no surprise that tanning salons do such good business here, even during the sunniest time of year. For these outlets, the spring and summer months are boom time as clients, mostly women, rush in to get a deep tan before heading to the beach. Chuck Daly, owner of Woodland Hills-based Sunset Beach Tanning, spoke to reporter Jennifer Netherby recently about the bright and dark sides of the tanning business. Daly started in the tanning business after retiring from Lockheed Martin in 1995, where he worked as an operations manager. With little knowledge of the tanning business himself, he hired a manager to run the day-to-day aspects. “During this time of year, we have everything from college students to high school students getting ready for prom, people getting ready to go on vacation and some come in to get a tan before heading to the beach. There’s a little bit of vanity in it, with people wanting to be tan before they get to the beach. “Most salons do good business in Southern California, even in the beach communities and Palm Springs. I think the reason is again vanity. People want to look tan. The average age group of our clients runs from 19 to 35. We have about 60 percent female clients. “The slowest time of the year is October and November. In December, business picks up. People want to tan for parties they go to or cruises. During the slower periods, we cut down to 10 hours a day. In the busy season we’re open 14 hours. We have about five or six employees at a time, mostly students. “The tanning beds (we use) cost $35,000 apiece and we have five. We started with two and then grew over the years. Most other tanning beds cost $3,000 to $4,000, but the difference with ours is there are fewer UVB rays. Regular tanning beds have 96 percent UVA rays and 6 percent UVB rays. Ours have 100 percent UVA rays, so it’s safer. You still can’t say it’s safe, because nothing is. “We charge $15 a session and people come in three times after that in 10 days to build their tan. Other places tend to sell monthly memberships at around $40 to $50. “One challenge we face is dealing with clients and informing them of all the pros and cons before they tan. They have to understand the risks. If they’re on medication that says they can’t go out in the sun, then they can’t come in the beds.