By Woodrow Polston
wpolston@vandalialeader.com
Owners Rhianna Wilkerson and Ronnie Woods have announced that their new tanning salon, ‘Sinfully Sweet Tanning,’ will be opening on Wednesday, March 15. Located at 304 South Main Street, the completely renovated facility will feature state of the art tanning beds and technology, allowing customers to access the salon 24 hours a day using an app on their cell phones. Woods said that the salon was built from the ground up after the building had been completely gutted when they purchased it from the previous owner.
“We started from scratch after gutting it,” said Woods. “It was a process of learning curves and issues with contractors that delayed us opening sooner. Our original goal was to open the salon last fall so that we could begin our next business project which includes a restaurant,” he added.
Before the building was purchased by the new owners, it served as a variety of different businesses over the years, including a pool hall and a tavern. Wilkerson said that everything in the salon is brand new.
“Everything is brand new, from the wiring to the HVAC system,” said Wilkerson. “We built new bathrooms, floors, rooms for the tanning beds, you name it it’s been done. As for the process, our customers who have a membership will have an app on their cellphones that can be scanned at the door to access the salon a 24 hours a day. Once inside, they can use the touch screen interface to choose which bed they want to use. After that, all they will have to do is go to the room and the bed will turn on automatically after a five minute countdown. The only thing that customers will have to do is clean their bed before and after use,” she added.
After sealing a new epoxy floor and applying fresh paint to the walls, Wilkerson put her finishing touches on the salon by expressing her interest in the arts. She said that each of the four rooms have their own theme of decorations.
“I have a movie room, a music room, a sports room and a beach themed room on the end. My son races go-carts so of course I have some photos of him on the wall in the sports room. I also have some photos of his football days and I am a huge Alabama fan so there are photos of them as well. The beds in the first two rooms are level two, and the level three is down from that. Our level five bed is on the end in the beach room. It is a 12 minute bed, which would be the equivalent of being out in the sun for 30 minutes. Someone who hasn’t tanned in awhile would want to use a level two bed to start out,” said Wilkerson.
Woods said that he anticipates a good turnout of customers after opening, as this location will serve area residents who would otherwise have to travel as far as Mexico for a multi-bed 24 hour tanning salon. Wilkerson said that the cost for a single tan will only be $5, a monthly membership will be $50, and if customers commit to a minimum of three months the cost is only $45 a month. Customers will be able to utilize any of the beds in the salon that they choose. For more information about ‘Sinfully Sweet Tanning,’ you may call 573- 416-6667 or visit their Facebook page.