The sunny months are ahead in the northwest, but for those looking to catch a tan in any season, Sunsations Tanning & Boutique is expanding to St. Helens.
It’s been over a year and a half since Sunsations Owner Samantha Slater opened her first location in Scappoose, and she’s ready to start a new chapter. Slater will open her new location in St. Helens on May 11, at 351 Columbia Blvd, right next to Kozy Korner.
Slater said that she hopes people will view Sunsations as an escape from the stresses of daily life.
“I like it to feel like you’re on vacation when you come in here. Even if it’s just a 15-minute escape from life, I want you to walk in here and feel welcome and like you’re on vacation,” Slater said. “Life is so busy with kids, and work, and spouses, a little piece of vacation, I think, is priceless.”
The new storefront will offer five levels of tanning beds, red light therapy, skin care items, a huge selection of boutique items, and other “self-care” items. The St. Helens location will not offer spray tanning.
Slater said her initial interest in moving a location to St. Helens was to ensure that there would be a local option for tanning, red light therapy, and boutique needs.
“What had happened is we heard that the tanning salon out here was being auctioned. I guess that didn’t end up happening, but we figured that if they were going out of business, we would rather move here than have a big chain come in,” Slater said. “Because we all like local small-town businesses.”
Slater wanted to bring Sunsations to St. Helens to prevent a chain from Portland from moving in because she wanted to maintain the small-town feel of Scappoose and St. Helens. Slater moved to Columbia County nine years ago and put down roots. Slater said the support of the community has been a highlight.
“I make a point to work both of my locations, we end up knowing all the customers by name. They feel like friends as they come in,” Slater said. “The support for this [location] launching, all the people [in Scappoose], are plugging it on Facebook, and are super excited. They’re already buying stuff there to transfer here. In a sense there’s already customers here.”
Not only the customers but also other business owners. Slater said that “the feel out here” of local businesses being in contact with one another is special.
“It’s unique out here because a lot of the businesses are owned by women. There are a lot of female business owners out here, and we all tend to connect. We all kind of bounce ideas off each other,” Slater said. “I have a boutique, but I plug other boutiques in town. I’ve had people ask, ‘How can you do that?’ and I’m like, because it works out here. Me supporting her doesn’t hurt me; it boosts us all up.”
Slater said that the shirts at her stores are from Scappoose Outfitters and that another female-owned boutique in St. Helens created her website. These are just a couple of examples of how local businesses support each other.
Going forward, Slater said that the support of the community has meant a lot to her and that she feels she and the customers operate more like “bestfriends/family.”
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