Palm Beach Tan, Inc. announced its Jan. 5 acquisition of the Desert Sun Tanning Salons franchise system.
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Maple Valley, Wash., Desert Sun has 55 franchised locations generating more than $20 million of system-wide revenues throughout the Northwest. An additional 30 salons are currently in development. Desert Sun will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Palm Beach Tan and operate under the Desert Sun brand.
"Desert Sun is a great fit," says Brooks Reed, CEO of Farmers Branch, Texas-based Palm Beach Tan. "It is a well-known concept on the West Coast, which is a targeted area of growth for us. We want to grow throughout Washington, California, Oregon and Arizona and look forward to continuing the momentum created by Desert Sun's team. The merging of these two brands creates a national indoor tanning company."
Desert Sun was owned and operated by Maximo Ansola III. He will stay involved with the company becoming its largest franchisee and have a consulting role with the new ownership.
Palm Beach Tan plans to grow the Desert Sun subsidiary through franchising with projections to add 120 additional locations by 2010. Bareq Peshtaz, the former president of Desert Sun, is now vice president of franchise sales. Palm Beach Tan established a new franchise sales and support office in Maple Valley; however, the company will remain headquartered in Texas.
