Southern Indiana Tanning Salon Chain True Colors Tanning Honored for Exceptional Business Practices, Corporate Citizenry

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind., June 14 /PRNewswire/ -- After 17 years in retail, Lisa Brooking took a peek at the indoor tanning industry and decided to open a tanning salon here. A year later, she opened another one. The next year, she opened three more salons.

Within five quick years, Brooking expanded her southern Indiana empire to include nine True Colors Tanning locations with a corporate headquarters in Jeffersonville. True Colors Tanning salons are located in Jeffersonville, New Albany, Sellersburg, Georgetown, Scottsburg, Floyds Knobs, Charlestown, Madison and Prospect, Ky.

Brooking's business philosophy is simple: Provide the best customer service, offer the cleanest salons in the area and provide the best equipment and products to all customers who come in.

Five years after being recognized by One Southern Indiana Chamber and Economic Development for the fastest-growing southern Indiana business, in May True Colors Tanning was awarded the 2010 Southern Indiana Business of the Year at the chamber's 2010 Business Awards.

"I was very excited to win the award," Brooking said. "It's a huge deal in this area and we were up against some rather large and established businesses with international operations. I truly believe that True Colors Tanning won because we're a good corporate citizen."

Brooking sits on the board of Bridgepoint Goodwill and Horseshoe Foundation Revolving Loan Fund, both in Jeffersonville. She and her staff of 75 also raise thousands of dollars each year for the local epilepsy foundation. All businesses should have a charity of choice and the foundation is ours, Brooking said.

Employing civic-minded individuals who can work as a team and help their communities is important as a business owner, Brooking said. She said she looks for employees who will dedicate themselves to the business, are serious about customer service, who'll give back to our local communities and who have serious career goals in mind.

"I also highly encourage all of my employees to network in their communities," she said. "People know what True Colors Tanning is but I want my staff to get out in their communities and know the people."

True Colors Tanning exclusively offers tanning beds manufactured by ETS Tan, the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of tanning beds and tanning equipment. The chain is the first in southern Indiana to offer ETS Tan's new Legend tanning bed, part of a new line of tanning beds featuring e3™ technology. e3 beds are high-output beds that require less space, run at cooler temperatures and feature electronic ballasts that reduce energy consumption and can lower operating costs by up to 30 percent. e3 beds also feature illuminating mood-mode panels that are backlit, change color and add modernistic ambiance to salons.

"I love these new beds because they perform extremely well, have required absolutely no maintenance and get results for my customers by providing them a superior tan," Brooking said. "I have always chosen ETS Tan because the company builds a workhorse of a tanning bed. But with this new line of beds, ETS Tan has combined a workhorse with a racehorse. The e3 tanning beds are truly the best in the industry."

Across her nine salons, Brooking offers 112 ETS Tan beds, including the Velocity, SolarForce and Rejuvasun with Omnilux models and seven spray-tan units. Customers, she said, like the new look and superior performance of the Legend tanning bed at True Colors Tanning locations where it's offered. "They love its appearance and are buying more and more sessions in the Legend," she said. "We're unique in our marketplace right now because none of our competitors offer this kind of technology. We definitely have plans on adding more e3 tanning beds in the future."

For more about True Colors Tanning, visit www.truecolorstanning.com. For more about ETS Tan, visit www.etstan.com.

SOURCE ETS Tan