Companies trying to franchise tanning salons

“There were some horror stories about those,” he said.

There is a good reason why the new chains are chasing customers of other salons: The tanning industry, for all its size, is essentially flat.

A majority of salons say foot traffic is down and sales have been flat to up just slightly recently, according to industry publication Looking Fit. Judie Bizzozero, the magazine’s editorial director, said customers have been forced to cut back to pay higher gasoline and utility bills.

John Overstreet, executive director of the Indoor Tanning Association, a trade group for salons and bed manufacturers, said the business is stable but not growing like it did in the 1990s. He and his members blame the stagnant market on warnings that exposure to UV radiation can lead to skin cancer.

The National Cancer Institute reports that users of tanning equipment are far more likely than nonusers to develop skin cancer, the fastest-growing form of cancer, with 1 million new cases diagnosed last year. The American Medical Association favors prohibiting anyone under 18 from using tanning equipment.

Regulations vary by state. Some prohibit children under 14 from using tanning beds, and a few, including Arizona, Illinois and Ohio, require parental permission for anyone under 18.

Industry officials have countered that doctors overstate the dangers of UV exposure, citing the work of Boston University researcher Dr. Michael F. Holick, who recommends up to 15 minutes in the sun without sunscreen several times a week to help the body produce vitamin D.

Ronald Moy, a dermatologist and surgeon at the University of California, Los Angeles, dismissed the need for more vitamin D and said the industry is undercutting doctors’ ability to counsel patients to protect themselves.

It is particularly hard to convince teens that tanning could lead to cancer many years later, Moy said.

“They nod their head and agree,” he said, “but they think the risk is small if they just go a few times.”

Clearly, tanning salon customers are willing to take their chances.

“My vanity overrides health concerns,” said Lana Morgan, a 45-year-old sales rep from Kings Park, N.Y., who visits a salon three or four times a week. “I’m in sales, and I have to look good.”

But the percentage of Americans using tanning beds has flat-lined, and most of the industry’s growth now comes from selling spray-on tans, said Steve Smith, chief executive of Planet Beach Tan.

Smith’s company, which franchises about 300 stores, is adding skin-hydrating machines and facials and recasting itself as “the tanning spa” — it’s even trying to trademark the term.

“We had a lot of negative press when it comes to UV tanning equipment,” he said. “This approach might be the missing link that takes us into the future.”

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