Sun Tan City

What Sun Tan City does

Sun Tan City is a Louisville, Kentucky-based franchise operator of indoor tanning and wellness salons, founded in 1999 and led by co-founder and CEO Rick Kueber. The company operates 250+ locations across 20+ U.S. states and serves individual consumers seeking UV tanning, spray tanning, and adjacent wellness services, with a cumulative customer base of more than 2 million over 25+ years of operation. Headcount is reported at 1,001–5,000 employees, and the company is structured as a private Kentucky LLC with no disclosed institutional ownership.

The service platform is built on premium third-party equipment — Ergoline, Soltron, and KBL tanning beds and VersaSpa Pro spray tan booths — supplemented by an in-salon wellness stack that includes red light therapy, infrared therapy, cryotherapy, vibration therapy, hydromassage, and salt therapy. A proprietary mobile app on iOS and Android supports member check-in, account management, deal redemption, and wait-time visibility. Revenue is generated through tiered monthly memberships ($17.99–$79.99 across Fast, Faster, Fastest, VIP All-Access, and Spray Tan Only tiers), per-visit pricing ($10–$35), retail product sales (lotions, bronzers, extenders), teeth-whitening add-ons (BleachBright), gift cards, and franchise fees of $30,000 plus buildout investment of $457,150–$780,700 per location.

Distribution is exclusively domestic and franchise-led. Marketing runs through the company website, social media (Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Pinterest), SMS keyword opt-in, email, and word-of-mouth. Sun Tan City positions itself as a premium brand within a $2.9 billion U.S. indoor tanning market it cites for franchise marketing purposes. No AI/ML capabilities, public APIs, funding rounds, M&A activity, regulatory actions, or institutional ownership are disclosed in the source material.

Name

Sun Tan City

Legal name

Sun Tan City, LLC

Website

https://suntancity.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Sun Tan City operates 250+ franchised indoor tanning and wellness salons across 20+ U.S. states, offering UV tanning, spray tanning, and wellness services (red light, cryotherapy, infrared) to individual consumers via memberships, per-visit pricing, and retail products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tanning and Wellness Spa Services

NAICS

Beauty Salons (812112)

SIC

Perfumes, Cosmetics & Other Toilet Preparations (2844)

akta.pro primary industry

Spray Tanning (Airbrush/Booth) (HSALAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

UV Tanning (Tanning Beds/Booths) (HSALAJAA), Tanning Memberships & Subscription Programs (HSALAJAD), Tanning Packages & Sessions (Single/Bundle) (HSALAJAE), Sunless Tanning Product Retail (Self-Tanners/Branded Products) (HSALAJAH)

Keywords

• Indoor tanning services
• Wellness spa services
• Spray tanning
• Tanning salon franchise
• Tanning memberships

Headquarters

HQ city

Louisville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: Monthly recurring membership fees offering unlimited or tiered access to tanning beds, spray tanning, and wellness spa services. Multiple tiers from Fast ($17.99/mo) to VIP All-Access ($79.99/mo) with annual prepayment discounts available.
2. Per-Visit Tanning Sessions: Single-visit pricing for tanning bed sessions (Fast $10, Faster $15, Instant $35), spray tan visits ($25), and day passes ($19.99). No membership required.
3. Tanning Products: Sale of tanning lotions, bronzers, tingle formulas, tan extenders, and skincare products. Also includes teeth whitening services and specialty accessories.
4. Franchise Fees: Franchise fee of $30,000 plus investment of $457,150-$780,700 to build and equip new salons. Royalty fees based on Franchise Disclosure Document terms.
5. Gift Cards: Gift cards sold in salon in various denominations, providing prepaid services and products.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sun Tan City operates a national chain of 250+ tanning and wellness spa salons offering UV indoor tanning beds (Fast, Faster, Fastest, Instant tiers), private-booth spray tanning using VersaSpa Pro technology, and a suite of non-UV wellness services including red light therapy, infrared therapy, cryotherapy, salt therapy, vibration therapy, and massage. Services are delivered via per-visit pricing or monthly/annual memberships, supplemented by retail tanning lotions, extenders, and teeth whitening add-ons, and expanded through a franchise program.

Product overview

Sun Tan City operates a national chain of 250+ tanning and wellness salons offering a unified platform of services centered around UV and spray tanning, complemented by wellness spa treatments and retail products. The core offerings consist of Tanning Beds (with Fast/Faster/Fastest/Instant speed tiers), Spray Tanning (VersaSpa Pro booth technology), and Wellness Spa Services (Red Light Therapy, Infrared Therapy, Vibration Therapy, Massage, Cryotherapy, Salt Therapy). The company bundles these through a Membership Program offering tiered subscriptions, while also selling complementary retail products (tanning lotions, extenders, spray tan products) and Teeth Whitening add-on services. A proprietary Mobile App enables member check-in, account management, and deal access. The business also extends through a Franchise program for entrepreneurs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Tanning Beds

Quantifiable outcome

• First spray tan always free for new customers
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Tan Republic: Multi-location tanning and wellness salon brand offering UV and spray tan services with membership tiers. Closely comparable customer proposition and franchise-style operations.
• Total Tan: Midwest-focused chain of tanning salons (UV and spray) with membership offerings. Comparable in scale and regional density to STC's Midwestern core, and competes head-to-head in overlapping states.
• Hollywood Tans: National US tanning salon franchise offering UV beds, spray tanning, and membership programs. Closely comparable franchise model, tiered pricing, and service bundle to Sun Tan City.
• Palm Beach Tan: One of the largest US indoor tanning and sunless-tanning salon chains, with a multi-state footprint of corporate and franchised locations. Directly comparable to Sun Tan City on core service mix (UV beds, spray tanning, wellness) and membership/subscription model.
• Ultratan: Regional tanning salon chain operating UV and sunless services across the Midwest. Comparable store-level service mix and membership model to Sun Tan City.

Broad incumbents

• Planet Fitness: National low-cost fitness chain that historically offered tanning as an included or premium member perk, competing for the same value-conscious consumer wallet share. Comparable distribution and subscription model, but operates in a broader category (fitness).
• Amazing Lash Studio: National beauty franchise with membership-driven recurring revenue in the personal-care category. Comparable multi-state franchised retail model and consumer profile.
• European Wax Center: Public personal-care franchise with a membership-based walk-in service model in the beauty/aesthetics space. Comparable subscription economics, multi-state franchise footprint, and consumer demographic to Sun Tan City.
• Massage Heights: Multi-unit massage and wellness franchise with membership subscriptions and walk-in service. Comparable subscription-plus-visit model and franchise structure to Sun Tan City.
• Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa: National franchise of massage and facial spa locations with a comparable membership-driven, multi-service model. Adjacent in the wellness/personal-care category where STC is expanding with red light, infrared, and massage services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/VicAtSunTanCity
• YouTubeyoutube.com/suntancity
• Facebookfacebook.com/suntancity
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sun-tan-city
• Instagraminstagram.com/suntancity

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sun Tan City