How does a Sun Tan City franchise operate after opening?
A Sun Tan City franchise operates a staffed Salon selling equipment-based tanning and wellness services, EFT memberships, single visits, and approved retail products. The franchisee runs the site and workforce; STC Franchising, LLC controls methods, suppliers, technology, marketing, pricing, quality standards, and reporting access.
Data basis
STC Consolidated Operations, LLC is the parent and operator of company-owned Salons. Sun Tan City, LLC owns the trademarks. STC Management Group, LLC may supply equipment, inventory, and services; the affiliates are not the legal franchisor.
What does the Salon sell, and who buys it?
The standard Salon serves members and walk-in clients from the general public, with the FDD identifying ages 18–44 as the large majority of clients. The operating mix combines tanning, location-specific wellness services, memberships, individual visits, and approved skin-care, beauty, tanning, wellness products, and accessories.
Authorized services can include UV tanning, spray tanning, red-light therapy, automated massage, cryotherapy, cold plunge, salt therapy, infrared sauna, and teeth whitening. Because availability varies by location, the unit-level promise is the approved mix installed at that Salon, not every service on the brand’s official service pages.
Members can buy or manage eligible offerings online, in the app, or in the Salon. The membership page separates memberships from individual visits; the official client FAQ says visits are generally first-come, first-served, app check-in is available, and memberships can be used across locations subject to service availability.
How do the disclosed operating paths differ?
A standard Franchise Agreement authorizes one Salon at one approved site. A Conversion Salon moves an existing tanning business into the Sun Tan City system, while an Area Development Agreement schedules multiple future Salons in a Development Area rather than creating a separate customer-facing format.
| Operating path | What changes operationally | What does not change |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Salon | New unit at one approved site. | Current Methods of Operation and system standards. |
| Conversion Salon | Existing tanning business converts branding, equipment, and systems. | Sun Tan City standards govern after conversion. |
| Area Development | Multiple Salons open on an agreed Development Area schedule. | Each Salon requires a Franchise Agreement. |
The 2026 FDD treats WELLNESS CITY™ as a limited select-market test governed by a separate Testing and Conversion Addendum, not the standard Salon format.
How does work move through a Sun Tan City Salon?
The operating cycle begins with brand and local demand generation, moves through account access and a first-come queue, converts the visit into a membership, single service, or retail transaction, and ends with point-of-sale records, electronic payment processing, financial reporting, and franchisor data access.
Actor: STC marketing programs and the franchisee.
Action: National, digital, email, SMS, customer-relationship-management, in-Salon, and approved local advertising direct clients to the brand website, app, or Salon.
Required system or asset: National Marketing Fund, approved creative, local media, website and app.
Output: A walk-in, digital check-in, membership inquiry, or account action.
Actor: Client and Tanning Consultant.
Action: The client walks in or uses the app to review wait information and enter the line; the Salon retrieves or creates the client record and confirms the requested approved service.
Required system or asset: Brand app, client account and approved point-of-sale system.
Output: A recorded client ready for purchase or service assignment.
Actor: Tanning Consultant under Salon Director supervision.
Action: The Salon sells an approved membership, individual visit, service, or retail item. Electronic-funds-transfer memberships authorize recurring monthly debit; card transactions use the designated gateway and point-to-point-encryption terminals.
Required system or asset: Client service agreement, point-of-sale, EFT processing, approved payment terminal.
Output: A paid or contractually authorized service and an auditable sales record.
Actor: Tanning Consultant, Salon Director, and the client using equipment.
Action: Staff manage the queue, prepare the room or equipment, and deliver the selected tanning or wellness service under the Methods of Operation and legal requirements.
Required system or asset: Approved equipment, supplies, Methods of Operation, and maintenance program.
Output: Completed service and equipment availability for the next client.
Actor: Salon team, central client-service functions, and payment processors.
Action: The point-of-sale closes the visit, updates the client record, issues a receipt, and supports account, rewards, freeze, cancellation, or renewal actions through approved channels.
Required system or asset: Point-of-sale, app, website, EFT platform, Client Care channels.
Output: Updated membership status, transaction history, and follow-up path.
Actor: Franchisee, accounting personnel, STC Franchising, LLC, and tax authorities.
Action: The franchisee maintains records, supplies monthly financial statements, supports royalty and advertising calculations, handles applicable indoor-tanning excise tax, and permits system access, inspections, and audits.
Required system or asset: Point-of-sale data, accounting records, secure internet, reporting procedures.
Output: Financial and operating records available for compliance review.
Taxable indoor tanning adds a collection and remittance step. The Internal Revenue Service generally requires providers to collect a 10% excise tax at payment and report it quarterly on Form 720; spray tanning and product sales are treated differently. The franchisee must code transactions accordingly, using the IRS Indoor Tanning Services Tax Center.
Who must run the Salon day to day?
The owner or approved managing owner must personally manage the Salon as a primary occupation, or delegate that duty to a Supervisor who also manages and operates it as a primary occupation. The FDD therefore supports a qualified manager-run structure, but not an inference of passive or absentee ownership.
An entity franchisee must designate an STC-approved managing owner; the FDD states no minimum ownership percentage. A delegated Supervisor must complete initial training and sign confidentiality and noncompetition commitments. The official franchise page adds that an operating partner must be approved and reside in the market.
The franchisee hires, fires, pays, trains, supervises, disciplines, and schedules employees. STC can regulate staffing levels, qualifications, training, dress, appearance, and standards. Each Salon needs at least one trained Salon Operator; disclosed unit roles include Tanning Consultant and Salon Director.
A Supervisor can handle primary daily management, but the franchisee retains employment, compliance, maintenance, reporting, tax, insurance, and contract duties. The proposed operator must satisfy STC approval, training, residency, and primary-occupation requirements.
Which suppliers and technology are mandatory?
STC can approve specifications, restrict vendors, designate a single source, and require purchases from STC or an affiliate. The controlled inputs extend beyond tanning equipment to software, payment hardware, spray solution, lotions, lamps, acrylics, fixtures, music, digital signage, information-technology support, and advertising materials.
An alternative supplier requires a written submission and approval before purchase; the FDD allows up to 180 days for review. No purchasing cooperative is disclosed. Item 8 also reports parent-company credits tied to system lamp and lotion purchases, including an exclusive lotion arrangement.
Required technology includes an approved point-of-sale platform, two or more counter workstations, printer, firewall, point-to-point-encryption terminals, GlowTV, Internet-of-Things router, and secure high-speed internet. The franchisee must use the Sun Tan City Help Desk, install required upgrades, meet payment-card and data-security rules, and maintain cyber liability insurance.
STC can retrieve system data as often as daily. The Franchise Agreement requires monthly financial reporting and permits unannounced inspections, record copying, and audits. Participation in the brand website and app is mandatory for account management, membership signup, service purchase, wait-time checks, and line entry.
Who controls each operating layer?
The franchisee controls local execution and employment decisions inside a system whose customer promise, approved inputs, information flow, and quality standards remain centrally specified. Approved suppliers and platforms perform operational functions, but they do not replace the franchisee’s responsibility for the Salon.
What decisions remain with the franchisee?
The franchisee decides how to execute daily labor, maintenance, local recordkeeping, and approved local marketing, but it does not receive broad discretion over the site, service menu, suppliers, systems, brand presentation, pricing rules, operating hours, or customer channels.
The Franchise Agreement authorizes one location in a non-exclusive Designated Area. STC generally restricts another Sun Tan City Salon within two miles, subject to exceptions; this is not customer exclusivity. STC and affiliates retain website, catalog, and other product channels inside the Area without compensation, and relocation requires approval.
STC may prescribe maximum or minimum prices, require designated offerings, prohibit unapproved goods, approve advertising, and align hours with affiliate-owned Salons. Quality control can include inspections, photographs, product samples, employee or client interviews, satisfaction programs, and audits. Local judgment operates inside that framework.
The two-mile provision restricts physical siting; it does not assign all clients, internet transactions, products, accounts, or alternative channels to the franchisee. Area Developer protection remains conditional on schedule and agreement compliance.
What does Item 20 show about the operating network?
At December 31, 2025, Item 20 reports 252 Sun Tan City Salons: 156 franchised and 96 company-owned. Franchised Salons represented 61.9% of the reconciled year-end network of all Salons.
Interpretation: the year-end network had a franchised majority and a separate 96-Salon company-owned population.
Source: 2026 Sun Tan City FDD, Item 20, Table 1, p. 47. Counts reconcile to 252 and percentages reconcile to 100.0%.
Which operating questions remain unresolved?
Document inconsistencies and unit-specific dependencies require verification before a buyer can map staffing, equipment, supplier, territory, and data obligations for a proposed Salon under the final Salon agreements and schedules.
Operating-model synthesis
Sun Tan City’s central mechanism is repeat equipment-based service through EFT memberships, plus single visits and approved retail products. The franchisee must execute daily Salon operations through an approved owner or Supervisor and trained staff. The strongest dependency is STC control of operating methods, suppliers, technology, data, marketing, and quality review.
One Salon receives only a two-mile siting restriction inside a non-exclusive Area; online and alternative channels remain reserved. The largest unresolved question is the current unit package—equipment, vendors, software, operator structure, and market exceptions—which must be verified in the final agreements and schedules.