Fitness & Tanning

And it is very simple, says another expert. "Salons have their base of customers, as well as gyms, with some overlapping in both," he says. "However, if the gym offers the salon the opportunity to put some fliers and/or sales material in the gym—and vice versa—they then have a better chance of expanding their customer base. In addition, if they both run local advertisements in the same newspapers, they might be able to save on the cost by splitting it up while offering a complete fitness and tanning package."

One salon in Michigan is located right next to a Powerhouse Gym. The owner says the co-op agreement between the two has been very successful.

"There are many ways to cross promote," she says. "You can piggyback off each other on mail-outs to members of either the gym or the salon, offering discounts or upgrades. It really depends on the relationship between the salon operator and the fitness center operator."

The best chance for a salon to grab fitness lovers is at the beginning of the year, because one of the biggest problems gyms and health clubs have is the New Year’s resolution syndrome—people join in January, but quit by March because they don’t see the results right away.

A lot of people start out the New Year with bold resolutions and the best of intentions. They vow to get in shape only to teeter off and blame the hectic pace of life. The harsh reality of fitness can sink in quickly for the average person. People who want to suddenly look like WWF wrestler The Rock after 10 years of abusing their body will be disappointed because it might take six months to notice even a slim difference in appearance.

That’s the time for salons to flex their creative muscles. Customer awareness is key because the connection between tanning salons and fitness centers is an obvious plus to those involved in the industry, but consumers aren’t quite as knowledgeable. Certain promotions can link tanning and fitness, though.

"The gym we partner with recently ran a special to encourage people to utilize the club’s personal trainers," says the Michigan salon owner. "The special featured people on 12-week programs. At the end of the 12 weeks, the members had lost a lot of weight and the gym wanted to post pictures of each individual. Before they smiled in front of the cameras, the people wanted to get some color so they came over and tanned with us.

"The gym posted the pictures on their windows so people who were tanning with us saw the pictures when they passed by the gym. It encouraged a lot of our members to want to get fit. Inside the gym a lot of its members saw how good the people looked with tans so they came in to the salon to try tanning. It was a perfect way to appeal to both sets of patrons."

The promotion worked because it was creative enough to appeal to tanners as well as fitness lovers. Another plus was that the gym made the program public by posting the pictures in the newspaper.

"The gym was just very smart about it," she says. "It became a big phenomenon. If you ally yourself with someone as creative as you want to be then it can be an absolute skyrocket success. It’s not a natural transition for tanners to join a gym but there are ways to maximize that."