ETS Tanning Bed Blog

DENVER — It’s prime season for tanning beds, when proms and spring beach vacations prompt young women to pack indoor salons in search of bronze skin to go with their new bikinis. But business is slow this spring. Health warnings about the skin cancer risks of tanning beds, combined with consumers forgoing nonessentials in this recession, have the nation’s estimated 18,000 tanning salons on hard times. Now they’re bracing for another hit: A 10 percent tax on tanning bed use starts nationwide this July, part of the federal health care overhaul.

“Will I be here next year? I don’t know,” said Kristi Alpers, owner of Cherry Creek Tans in Denver.

The tax will add 90 cents to a few dollars for a single tanning session, depending on the machine. It’s a fee she thinks will bankrupt her.

“They’re trying to ban tanning totally. That’s what this is about.”

Regular indoor tanning customers already know about doctors’ warnings. Some say they don’t mind the risks despite the options of spray-on tans and old-fashioned sunbathing.

“It’s just a better look for people to be tan,” said 20-year-old Ashleigh Deal (left), a University of Denver cheerleader who visits Cherry Creek Tans about once a week. “Young people are always going to want to be tan.”

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