I noticed the first one (“Movie Man Video & Tan”) when I moved here last August. Today I noticed another movie rental place with a “TAN HERE” sign posted in the window, less than a mile away from the first.
This is so incredibly bizarre to me that I am compelled to share it with the rest of the world.
Is it just that I live in some kind of bubble and movie rental/tanning salons are actually normal or something? What on earth do these two things have to do with one another? And is this really such a great idea for a business that there must be not one but two such places in my tiny (population ~7000) town?
I am baffled.
Anyone else have any bizarro combination stores near them?
Way back in my mind, I know I remember seeing a tanning place coupled with some other incongruent business a few months ago but can’t remember what the other business is. Dang!
In other news, in Seattle, there’s Suds and Duds. Knock back a cold one while your clothes are doing their thing in the washer or dryer.
Near Federal Way is Billiards and Beads. I haven’t been in there but I always picture Wifey browsing the beading supplies while Hubby drools over the latest in billiards equipment whenever I go by.
I visited a friend in Des Moines once and they had a pizza joint/laundromat. I thought it was brilliant, you could have dinner and a couple beers with friends while you got the laundry done.
Here in San Diego, this doesn’t quite count, but Newport Pizza & Ale House has an NES, which is pretty unusual for bar entertainment. Great idea, though, since a lot of the 21-35 crowd loves 8-bit gaming (like me and most of my friends).
Our strange video store combination here is a video store/pawn shop/gun store/storage unit place. In a neighboring city is my favorite, a place that is <name>'s Drugs & Guns, which apparently is a pharmacy that also sells guns. I think the name is Thomerson’s, but I could be wrong on that.
Tanning salons/video store combinations are common here. I think it started partly because lots of video stores have spare square-footage available for something else.
They’re pretty common in this part of Tennessee too.
The strangest one that I’ve seen, though, is in my old neighborhood. There’s a place called Rollins’ Corner that has a line of shops to cater to most of the blue collar area where they are situated: tanning salon, gas station / convenience store, car wash, laundry, sub shop, mini storage and Hula Ice, all with the name Rollins incorporated into the names.
Tanning booths are fairly inexpensive to buy and operate and they can generate a fair bit of income, especially if you’ve the space for multiple beds. There’s a bit of a mini-explosion of these now coupled with, as you’ve seen, often rather incongruent businesses.
There’s also a bit of a mini-explosion of skin cancers from these booths. They’re not at all safe and very loosely regulated.