South 40 Sunshine offers tanning

Abby Schwartz
Jenny Shao

Washington University students are known for their intelligence, work ethic and community awareness, and starting this year, for their great tans.

South 40 Sunshine, a student-run business located in the Gregg storefronts recently opened to provide sunless tans for the University community.

“We wanted a quality product, not something that’s cheap, but something that looked good and that the students would enjoy,” said Dave Silverman, a junior and one of business’s founders.

In opening a consumer driven business, Silverman and his co-owners-juniors Adam Schneider and Nathan McCurren-hope to redefine the business culture of student run businesses.

“Most of the businesses on Storefront Row right now are distribution-based, but we wanted to bring a little more life to the area,” said Silverman.

By bringing more foot traffic into the Gregg storefronts, the entrepreneurs envision bringing customers into other businesses as well.

“This is the perfect business for the community,” said Schneider, “and the perfect business for the entrepreneurship community, because it’s going to bring people to the storefronts.”

The team developed detailed models and forecasted for the venture and at the end of summer 2006, presented their business plan to the eight-person board of the Student Entrepreneurial Program (StEP).

“In talking to people and professors, there was some uncertainty about whether this could work,” said Silverman. “But we put a lot of thought into how we could make this work.”

Under the guidance of StEP, the team was able to meet with lawyers to formally incorporate under Missouri state law and to begin setting up their business.

The three entrepreneurs began looking for suppliers, insurance companies and more importantly, specific tanning products to use. Eventually, South 40 Sunshine chose Mystic Solution as their provider of tanning products.

Currently, South 40 Sunshine provides four different options for tanning: original clear, original bronze, premium clear and premium bronze. A premium tan is darker and lasts 7-10 days, rather than the 5-7 day tan offered by the original.

The most important feature of South 40 Sunshine is that their Mystic tanning machines, unlike tanning beds, do not emit harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays that potentially cause skin cancer.

“If you want the golden look, we’re going to recommend [Mystic tanning] over using a tanning bed or lying in the sun because the UV rays are what causes skin cancer, which is the most common form of cancer in the U.S.,” said Christine Winter, communications director at the High Plains Division of the American Cancer Society.

From a scientific sense, the machine, “sprays negative ions that attach to positive skin ions like a magnet,” explains Schneider.

The spray is completely computerized and takes about 20 seconds.

“Our goal for the future is for each person to have a customized experience,” said Silverman.

As of right now, students can mix in a vanilla scent, among other mix-ins in the future, with the sunscreen.

For more information about the business, visit http://www.south40sunshine.com.

-With additional reporting by Sam Guzik.

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