INDIANAPOLIS — The tongue-in-cheek teaser, “May We Tan Them Buns Hun,” on a roadside pylon sign was the first hint. Then there were the two dozen vehicles pulled up to this 7,500-square-foot goliath. Before stepping inside, I knew Laundry & Tan Connection wasn’t a run-of-the-mill coin-op. In a city famous for its speedway, this locally based chain hits on all cylinders with an oft-forgotten hybrid and a drive for family trade.
Loading your jeans for a hot wash and shedding your clothes for a warm glow is a tandem format seldom seen these days, but what really sets this operation apart from the pack is the pampering that moms, dads and kids receive.
SALON RETAINS SEPARATE IDENTITY
Just like its laundry counterpart, the chain’s tanning section is well-appointed and meticulously maintained. At the original West 10th Street combo venue, a glass door entry off the rear corridor takes you from a bustling coin-op into a tranquil oasis of five private tanning rooms with state-of-the-art apparatus.
While the salon’s dedicated reception desk is located in close proximity to the main service counter, it retains a separate identity punctuated by an eye-catching backlit wall display showcasing exotic-labeled lotions like “Sol Struck” and “Worship Worthy.”
To the left of the salon is a well-appointed rear lounge where weary parents looking for a respite from laundry chores can kick back in style.
A stable workforce and Indianapolis’ street grid system were two big pluses in helping chart Michael Gilley’s course.
“It’s all about demographics,” the owner notes. “Some stores are busier than others, but even though it might be busier, our operating costs may be higher in that particular location either because of utilities or rent. Just because it has more revenue doesn’t mean it’s more profitable.”
His handful of Kentucky locations are strictly wash-and-dry, except for a hybrid at the University of Louisville, the chain’s only campus store.
“You certainly notice when the students go home,” he remarks of the 22,000-strong university population. “Our revenue stream can tell us when the students are there and not there.”
Connecting laundry and tan starts with an appeal to Gilley’s core following, namely women.
“We target our advertising to females between 18-34, and that coincides very well for both coin laundry and the tanning salon business,” the owner says. “The mom is generally the one who is making the decision as to where they’re going to do laundry, so we try to cater to women.”
As we watch the Sunday morning crowd at West 10th filter in toting dirty loads, Gilley confides a wish for every square inch of the laundry to remain spotlessly clean.
“If I had one store, it would look like Nordstrom every day, but the problem is I don’t have just one,” he laughs.
After more than a quarter-century, this operator has no intention of deviating from his tried-and-true blend of a family-friendly atmosphere housed within a tandem business model. You can forget about seeing any “hot bod contests” anytime soon in the Laundry & Tan Connection wash aisle. And as for adding another concept under the roof, there’s no hesitation in his response: “I’m busy enough!”
Miss Part 1? You can read it HERE.
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