Couple starts tanning biz on a whim
By BRANDON WORF
Most people who have regular day jobs tend not to start a business on a whim.
Troy and Denise Weigel of Hays did just that.
As the owners of the newly opened Paradise Tanning & Cuts, located on 27th Street in the Oak Park shopping center, they found out how taxing it can be to start a new business.
"It almost took our marriage," laughed Troy. "But I'm happy. We started this to help kids coming out of (cosmetology) school, and so far it's pretty good."
What started as an idea in their heads soon turned into a four-week stint of moving furniture, painting, buying new equipment and starting a business from scratch.
"We did everything except the flooring," Troy said. "We had a lot of 16-hour days in that four weeks."
Denise said they did it while still working full-time.
"I would go to work at 6:30 in the morning, get off at 3:30 in the afternoon, and then come here and work until about 10:30," she said. "The only time we really saw each other was when we were working on this, so it really strained us in ways we never knew about."
Denise is a graduate of the FHSU radiology program and has been working as a mammography technician at Hays Medical Center for the last four years. Troy works on plumbing, heating and air conditioning full-time at FHSU and also does freelance plumbing work on his own, operating as Weigel's Plumbing and D&T Sewer Cleaning.
"We see each other about two hours a day," Denise said. "But after what we went through to get this going, it's a relief."
The pair officially opened the new salon and tanning parlor July 10 and say business has been good so far.
"It's slowly picking up and getting better," Troy said. "We think things will really pick up once school is back in session for the year, since we have everything in one house."
The salon features the standard set of hair care and design services, as well as tanning, massage, an oxygen bar, pedicure and manicure services, and waxing.
"We bought four new tanning beds, and even an upright tanning booth for this," Troy said. "And right now, we're the only place in town that has an oxygen bar. So we're trying to get an edge on the other guys."
And what is an oxygen bar?
"It helps with relaxation," Denise said. "We do it with the massage most of the time because it helps loosen muscles up more."
Since school's almost back in session, the pair hope their back-to-school specials will attract some attention.
"We already start haircuts at $12 for guys, and $16 for girls, so we're a little cheaper to start with," Denise said. "But we're doing things like $10 haircuts on Mondays and Ladies Night Out Thursdays with $35 pedicure/manicures. It's a good deal."