Aloha Tan Supply, Inc.
All-Around Industry Experts "Cruise" to Success
The best way to transform a curious bystander into a long-term customer is to provide excellent service, competitive prices and to go a little bit further every once in a while to show your appreciation. And for Lewisville, Texas-based Aloha Tan Supply, Inc., that's just how it is rewarding its customers.
by Scott Eric Barrett
According to Hicks, when salon owners purchase Aloha tanning products or equipment, give referrals from other salon owners or promote the cruise in their salon, they earn Cruise Dollars toward the 2001 Cruise.
Hicks' adventure in the tanning industry began in the early 1990s when he and co-founder Michael Neal worked at Supre for eight years as account representatives. During that time the pair talked to roughly 150 salon owners each day.
"We really got what I think is the equivalent of a doctor's degree in the tanning industry during our time there," he says.
In 1997 the duo, along with Dusty's wife, Tammy, decided it was time to invest their tanning education into a challenge. That challenge turned out to be an 18-bed superstore called Aloha Tan & Travel. Shortly thereafter, they started distributing equipment and lotions, and at last November's trade show in Nashville, unveiled their own line of Aloha tanning lotions.
Hicks says Aloha's tanning products blend 15 natural plant extracts and include the antioxidant vitamins A, C and E.
"They are very, very moisture rich," he says. "We have the new Actibronze complex. It is one of the most advanced ingredients on the market as far as active ingredients are concerned. It uses a vegetable-based tyrosine."
Aloha's product line consists of four lotions--Mahalo, Hahana, Kulana and Olu'. The lotions, designed with a complete Hawaiian concept, each are named after a different Hawaiian word. Olu', an extremely cool maximizer, literally means "cool" in Hawaiian. Hahana, a hot tanning stimulator, means "hot" or "heat". Mahalo, a moisture rich maximizer, means "thank you", sort of like a thank you from your skin. Kulana, a glimmering bronzer, means "quality."
"We tried to cover the four major personal preferences--hot, cool, bronzer and maximizer," says Neal. "We have a product for every customer that walks through your door."
According to Hicks, Olu' and the Hahana are the company's top sellers. "The Olu' is so cool and refreshing, while the Hahana is really hot. Some tanners like to get hot when they tan, while others want to be cool and don't like to sweat," he adds.
As far as marketing the lotions, Hicks says packaging is a key component. Packaging and the fragrance help with the first- time sales, while the quality of the formula creates the repeat business.
"Packaging, fragrance and quality are the three main things we paid attention to when we put the product line together," he says. "The package design on our products is bright and colorful with jump off the shelf appeal."
Besides owning and operating a salon and producing its own line of lotions, Aloha is also the U.S. importer of Alpha Sun equipment, a Belgian manufacturer of indoor tanning equipment.
According to Hicks, the Alpha Sun equipment comes with a lifetime warranty on all the electrical components, which is one of the strongest warranties in the industry. Additionally the equipment has superior tanning performance.
"They are tremendous and they simply out-tan the competition," he says. "They use an ERS lamp, one of the hottest-selling lamps in Europe, which features a shorter UVA wavelength for a more powerful tan."
Another plus to the Alpha Sun equipment is that some base units are available in 160-watt models. Today, many manufacturers and equipment dealers only offer 160-watt reflector type models in the giant expensive beds, he says.
Aloha's future plans include adding to the lotion line and continuing to build the equipment line.
"We would like to take our lotion to some of the international markets and we are focusing on Canada, Great Britain and Australia first," Hicks says. "Our goal is to introduce new tanning products each year to keep it fresh for salon owners. New products sell, but our company slogan will always be: It's the service after the sale that counts."
