Published: November 16, 2008 02:34 am      

Lion in the Sun opens a third location

FAIRMONT — Lion in the Sun is moving into the future with its new facility.

The business’ third location, stationed at 1313 Locust Ave. by Fairmont State University and Fairmont General Hospital, opened in September.

Lion in the Sun’s main store, in its 15th season, is on the East Side of Fairmont on Morgantown Avenue. It has 15 tanning bed units and is for walk-ins only. The other location, which is on Route 250 south past Wal-Mart, has five units and is in its sixth season.

Owner Kim Wherley said she always wanted to open another facility to serve the outlying areas.

“I just really felt the need to bring our services to the West Side and to be near the college,” she said.

Then an opportunity arose to establish a third location. Wherley found a 2,500-square-foot building that the McAteer family owned, and she worked with a carpenter to transform the facility.

“We totally remodeled the building, and it’s absolutely beautiful,” she said. “I wanted something to take us into the future.”

Wherley said the new store is more contemporary and modern, and the colors are very soothing and spa-like. The building has large rooms and ample parking.

This Lion in the Sun location features all new equipment. It has 12 tanning units and offers five different levels of tanning.

The store has Fairmont’s only high-pressure unit called the Acclaim, which “takes your tanning to a whole different spectrum” and gives instant coloring without reddening, Wherley said. Lion in the Sun has the only Acclaim in West Virginia.

The shop only takes walk-in customers, so no appointments are necessary. It offers student and hospital discounts, and a customer’s first visit is always free on a level one tanning bed.

Lion in the Sun’s 10 employees, which rotate between the stores, attend training sessions and have more than 50 years of combined tanning experience. Manager Derice Bartholow has been with the business for six years.

“We try to teach everybody smart tanning,” Wherley said. “We make sure our staff is educated so they can educate the customer.”

The workers encourage tanning in moderation. Lion in the Sun requires the use of eyewear while tanning and 20 hours in between sessions to give the skin time to recuperate. The staff also talks to clients about the importance of using good lotion.

“We truly care about our customers,” Wherley said. “Customers always come first.”

“We try to keep (the stores) as clean as possible. All of our salons are nice.”

The new Lion in the Sun location on Locust Avenue is currently open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call the store at 333-7869.

E-mail Jessica Legge at jlegge@timeswv.com.