Tanning business booms

Doesn't the thought of relaxing and feeling a blast of heat hit your body sound nice right about now? Wouldn't you like to be in a place where warmth blankets your body all the time? People have already begun trekking to far off warm places, and spring break has not even officially kicked in.\nBecause of spring break, tanning salons have become the place to be the past couple of months. Whether it be tanning to look good or tanning to avoid burning, customers have enjoyed the warmth of the tanning beds bulbs' while getting ready for their week vacation away from school. \nPlumb Tan, a small tanning salon located on 5165 N. Lakeview Rd., has only two lay down beds and one stand up bed. But it has had a surge of customers come through their door since last month.\n"Business has pretty much doubled, if not tripled (within the past month)," Plumb Tan employee Ashley Crider said. "Mid-February is when traffic and business begin to pick up."\nA Total Tan, with two locations in Bloomington, has had customers waiting in long lines to tan outside their business.\n"We almost triple in business during the middle of January to the beginning of March," owner Ryan Chandler said. "Two to three weeks before spring break, business will almost quadruple."\nEven with a numerous amount of tanning beds, salons are struggling to keep beds empty.\n"We have 90 beds in town and two weeks before spring break all the beds are filled pretty much most of the time," Chandler said.\nIU senior Kara Taylor has avoided the rush during the few weeks before spring break.\n"I always went (tanning) in the morning to avoid the spring break rush later on in the evening," Taylor said.\nThere are many reasons why people tan so much during the few weeks before spring break.\nBusinesses have brought in a lot of traffic by running spring break specials.\n"Right now we are running a special for fifteen sessions at fifteen minutes per session for $45," Crider said.\nMany people have taken advantage of these deals before they begin the journey to their spring break destination.\nSenior Megan Vale goes where the sales are.\n"I went tanning before spring break because the tanning salon was running a spring break special," Vale said.\nOthers tan to avoid looking like a boiled lobster over spring break.\nTaylor has burnt in the past, and to avoid burning again she visited the salon before spring break this time.\n"I went tanning before going on vacation to prepare my skin from getting burned," Taylor said\nAnother group goes to have a nice, bronze look by the time it reaches its vacation destination.\nThe younger crowd tends to tan to look attractive to the opposite sex, Crider said. The girls come in tanning to look good for the boys, and the boys come in tanning to look good for the girls.\nWhatever the reason, people are getting ready for their week of relaxation, work or fun by looking good and keeping warm.