ASHLEY BRAND and STEPHEN RONEY worked with Brand’s parents to open the new tanning spa in Drake West Village with innovative tanning beds and flexible hours. Photo: Mary Bess Bolling
Two Drake students helped launch the new Sunsation Spa in Drake West Village last weekend. It’s the first tanning salon within walking distance for Drake students, located next to the West Village Starbucks.
Junior Ashley Brand and Senior Stephen Roney, both students in the College of Business and Public Administration, first thought of bringing a tanning salon to the West Village commercial suites last year. They began researching the idea last April.
“We started out conducting research on whether there was an interest in tanning at Drake, and after finding there was, we began researching tanning in general,” Brand said. “We wanted to make sure that we could stand behind our decision to bring a tanning salon to campus, and were able to find a lot of redeeming research on tanning in general.”
After exploring the idea of bringing tanning to Drake, Brand and Roney formulated a business plan to make their vision a reality. They convinced Brand’s parents, Curt and Renita Brand of Urbandale, to invest in the project and they began a business partnership.
“Working together on the salon has gone smoothly,” Renita Brand said. “We tend to divide and conquer: Curt is a CPA and takes care of the finance, I have experience in construction, and Ashley and Stephen became experts on tanning – they picked out the beds, worked with the suppliers and oversaw all of the installation of the beds.”
Brand and Roney have balanced their schoolwork with their entrepreneurial project throughout the process. Both said that the business experience of building the tanning spa has been a hands-on application of many concepts they have learned in their CPBA classes.
“Our professors were very helpful, and we spoke to a number of them throughout the building and launch process,” Brand said.
Mary Edrington, assistant professor of practice in marketing, helped the students plan for fluctuations in sales throughout the year.
“We talked about how having a seasonal target market will affect their business, being that many of their customers will be students who are gone for two months per year, and they incorporated this into their business plan,” Edrington said. “Also, being Ashley’s academic advisor, I was concerned that they planned to have enough employees to support the business and manage their own studies.”
The construction and interior for the salon was commissioned to Hubbell Construction of West Des Moines. The students said the design fits the West Village apartments’ aesthetic. The 11 tanning beds are all high-quality ETS beds, including four Sunstar beds and three Solaris beds. There are also two SolarForce beds, a stand-up bed and the Rejuvasun bed with Omnilux.
“We went with ETS beds because they are the Goliath of beds in the tanning industry and are of very high quality,” Brand said. “We decided that if we’re going to go into business, we’re going to do it right. Also, ETS was very helpful with answering our questions throughout the process.”
The Rejuvasun with Omnilux tanning bed is a defining feature for Sunsation Spa. The FDA-approved bed incorporates near-infared and red light waves to provide light therapy, which has been shown to reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, acne and skin problems.
“The Rejuvasun really sets our store apart—there are very few of these beds in Des Moines—and though it is more expensive to tan in this bed, the cost is low comparative to other skin treatments such as botox,” Brand said.
The marketing and pricing strategies for the project focused on Drake students as the target market for Sunsation Spa. They offer packages that maximize flexibility and affordability for students, taking the financial constraints of college life into consideration.
“We’re waiving the traditional $25 membership start-up fee that most salons require because we want people to become a part of our business,” Brand said. “Additionally, students can freeze their account in the summertime and have their membership fees automatically withdrawn from their checking account on the second day of the month.”
Sunsation Spa offers a variety of membership levels and minutes packages, which can be found online (www.sunsationspa.com) or by inquiring at the store during regular business hours. The spa is open seven days a week, and open until 10 p.m. Monday through Friday
GENIUS. they will make bank.