Thursday, February 9, 2006
Kristi Lawrence admitted that she was anxious about the dust on the floor. The sun shining through the glass doors highlighted a thin layer of sawdust that otherwise would’ve went unnoticed.
“There’s just no clean way to do construction,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence owns and manages Mango Tan, 4000 W. Sixth St. Last week she opened the salon’s new addition in the space previously occupied by The Cup. Since Mango Tan became the official tanning salon of the Women of KU calendar models two years ago, the business has done well enough to warrant expansion into the space next door.
Though reluctant to credit only the models, Lawrence was willing to acknowledge the girls’ endorsement of Mango Tan as one reason behind its recent success.
Photo by Lisa Lipovac
Mango Tan owner Kristi Lawrence organizes a table of tanning lotion in the new addition to the store. The tannery is the official tanning salon of the women of KU.
Loni Berry, May 2006 calendar model said, “Mango Tan really makes me feel comfortable tanning there and promoting it to other people.”
The Topeka senior lives in Kansas City, Kan., and is finishing her degree at the University of Kansas. She had only good things to say about Mango Tan.
“I think the other women who live here and tan here really help,” Berry said. “I hope that we had some kind of part in it.”
Lawrence said she was approached to sponsor the Women of KU models two years ago. Under the sponsorship, the models tan for free during the school year.
“In turn, they’re out as kind of like a walking, talking advertisement for us,” Lawrence said. “It’s kind of a win-win situation for both sides. It definitely helps because so many students tan here. Word of mouth is the best advertisement you can get.”
Lawrence was surprised how quickly Mango Tan expanded in two-and-a-half years in business, in a college town full of tanning salons, most of which are much closer to campus.
“When we opened our doors a few years ago, we didn’t think that we’d be catering to as many students as we are,” Lawrence said. “We didn’t think they’d come this far west.”
Lawrence estimates that half of the 17-person staff are KU students.
Mary Noulles, Tulsa, Okla., sophomore has worked there since August of last year. She said she’d noticed a fairly weighty increase of traffic at Mango Tan, especially after word broke about the expansion.
“When I came back from Christmas break and started working, I noticed that in the past few weeks we’ve sold over $1,000 in packages,” Noulles said. “I can definitely see a huge increase. I’m always cleaning beds, and there’s always someone in here. It’s nice.”
The expansion gives Mango Tan more than extra square-footage. Lawrence said they were able to add tanning beds. Now there are 15 beds in the salon.
“It’s helped our staff because we don’t have as many phone calls and it helps the students because they don’t have to kill themselves getting to their appointments on time,” Lawrence said.
Even with the models’ endorsement of the salon and the new addition, Lawrence said word-of-mouth doesn’t reach everyone.
“It still amazes me,” she said, “that even after two and a half years, people will still come by here — in one of the busiest shopping centers in Lawrence — and be like, ‘hey did you guys just get here?’”
— Edited by Kathryn Anderson
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