smart Tan Magazine is the leading source of information for indoor tanning salons, covering everything from the newest tanning technology, Vitamin D and the lastes tanning lotions to detailed ways to improve your salon's success.
Issue link: https://smarttan.epubxp.com/i/242935
INSPIRED IDEAS Xpanding Your Horizons O ver the course of 15 years, Stephanie Struckhoff has graduated from part-time employee at a tanning salon, up through the ranks of the salon as assistant manager and later district manager, and into the corporate structure for Body and Mind Brands – a group that includes Xist Fitness and MassageLuXe. After 15 years with the company, her vision for marketing and the future of the industry has helped the franchises become what they are today, and will no doubt continue to shape these entities as they grow into the future. Q: How can MassageLuXe and Xist Fitness benefit tanning salons? A: For salons who want to diversify and grow their business, an established franchise is a great choice. Massage and fitness are sensible forms of diversification that are still in line with their tanning clients. Tanning salon clients want to STEPHANIE STRUCKHOFF, look good and feel good. They come in to tan, they go somewhere to work out, Vice President of Operations, and once in a while they get a massage to take care of their body. It all ties into Xist Fitness & MassageLuXe the health, wellness and beauty. Also, most of the people we have running Xist Fitness and MassageLuXe locations come from the tanning industry. These are also service-based businesses and a lot of the skills are transferable. Xist Fitness even incorporates a full-service tanning salon inside the gym, so it's a great option for people who want to get into the gym business and/or add on a new location. MassageLuXe is particularly great for tanning salons that have an open space next door where they can expand. There are also advantages for cross promotion: If they have a certain membership with you at one business they can enjoy benefits at another. Q: Why does Xist Fitness include a tanning salon, but MassageLuXe is physically separate from the tanning business? 71 ❘ SMART TAN MAGAZINE ❘ SmartTan.com A: Right now we are seeing more gyms get into tanning, so we want to help salons incorporate their business into that market. Currently our model is set up to have a full tanning salon inside of a gym location, but we are also considering models where the tanning salon is within a certain distance of the gym. It all depends on the logistics. We keep MassageLuXe physically separate simply because in tanning salons you have bright lights and loud music – it's an upbeat atmosphere. But massage is quiet and relaxing, so it's important to give each place a distinct atmosphere. Q: How does joining MassageLuXe or Xist Fitness alleviate some of the difficulties of starting one of these businesses on your own? A: There is a lot more equipment involved with starting a gym, and we offer a lot of support. We help by working with contractors to get bids; we know what it takes to get costs down, and they benefit from that experience. We also offer guidance for recruiting the certified professionals you'll need to staff the business. As for grand-openings and promotions, all of it has been created and perfected to ease the transition. There is also a team with you on-site for two weeks during the opening. They help with everything from hiring to training new employees, making those first impressions with customers and implementing the grand opening marketing plan that is tailored to your specific location. We target the avenues that will work best for your market. People hold themselves back because they are afraid of the unknown, but we have constructed the model, built the operations manual, and that takes away a lot of the fear. Opening a business is a lot of work, but we do a lot of that for you because it has already been established and planned. You're not on your own. Q: What kind of training and support do MassageLuXe and Xist Fitness offer for new franchisees? A: Ideally the franchisee would come to one of our corporate locations and train for two weeks. They would learn about everything at the employee level from being a front desk person, manager, and owner of these businesses. We have a training book we put together so there are no surprises. We don't let someone open a spa or gym without having those things mastered, and our team will help them along the way. They are really great with running scenarios since it's something different than they might be used to in the tanning business. To learn more about Xist Fitness, call (636) 600-4058 or visit www.xistfitness.com. To learn more about MassageLuXe, call 877-321-LUXE (5893) or visit www.massageluxefranchise.com.