'The business has changed'

The concept proved popular and he expanded to Portage in 2004. Now he's expanding the chain further, taking over Beach Tan Express salons his sister ran in Dyer and Crown Point and rebranding them.

Safari Beach Tan opened after extensive renovations at 901 Joliet St. in the same shopping mall as Jewel-Osco in Dyer and at 10763 Broadway across from Strack & Van Til in Crown Point. Anderson is planning another location, potentially in Michigan City.

"A lot of tanning salons have gone out of business," he said. "The business has changed. When I started it was a lot of high school girls looking to get ready for prom. Now we also have a lot of older customers looking to get vitamin D, take care of psoriasis, or because they have seasonal affective disorder. Now the dermatologists are our competition."

Business Reporter

Joseph S. Pete is a Lisagor Award-winning business reporter who covers steel, industry, unions, the ports, retail, banking and more. The Indiana University grad has been with The Times since 2013 and blogs about craft beer, culture and the military.

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