ORANGE — The owner of The Booth Salon, the new tanning salon in downtown Orange, said one of the salon’s motto is “Don’t burn, come in and tan.”
Residents have been coming in for those tans since The Booth Salon opened last month, Jim Stanley said. Though the space was previously a tanning salon under different ownership, Stanley decided to buy all the tanning beds and open his own salon once the owner left.
“Everybody loves it because a lot of people that are coming here, they were in here before and they love how great it looks now,” he said.
Then “Castle Rock,” the upcoming Stephen King-inspired Hulu series, came to Orange to start filming for the show’s first season. Before Stanley opened the salon, he rented the space to the cast and crew members for about seven months while they traveled around town to film.
Stanley got to work putting the tanning salon together once the crew left town. From adding new paint, a new carpet and new floors, to cleaning the tanning beds, he said the process took about three months to finish.
“You name it, we did it in here — a total renovation,” said Stanley.
Inside the salon there are five separate rooms, four with a tanning bed in each, while one has a tanning booth available for use. Hung outside each room are pictures of North Quabbin lakes. When deciding the theme of the salon, Stanley said his original thought was to incorporate beaches, but he decided to focus on the lakes — Tully, Silver, Ellis, Mattawa and Laurel.
For now, the salon is open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., but Stanley said he plans to be open more days during the week as business grows.
Montana Soucie, of Orange, is one of three employees working at the tanning salon. She is studying to become an esthetician and plans to offer her services, such as facials, in the near-future to customers.
Looking ahead, Stanley said the salon may offer other services, such as spray tans, as well.
“The best thing about spray tans is you can get a spray, it wears off in two weeks, but by the time it wears off you’ve already started tanning. You don’t even notice,” he said.
The salon is inviting the community to visit The Booth Salon for their grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony at 6:15 p.m. on July 19. Stanley said he’s partnered with other local businesses to offer their products — such as gift certificates and ice cream — in drawings during the event. Special discounts and offers will be available for purchase during the ceremony.
In hopes of collaborating with other local businesses and to get the word out about their tanning services, Stanley said he’s been working with Mark Wright, executive director of the North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce.
“The main thing we are trying to accomplish is not to just really say, ‘We are here,’ but really say, ‘We are here with other local businesses.’ I am trying to have a relationship with them,” said Stanley.