Envy expands

Slowing down leads to two Valdosta businesses

Boyana Peeva

VALDOSTA — More than a year ago, Joanna Jones moved to Valdosta from Orlando with her family to “slow down” her fast-paced life.

Instead, she opened a boutique and a tanning salon. She wanted unique and attractive places where one can feel special and well-catered.

Jones had a successful tanning salon in Orlando, Fla., right behind Universal Studios, but she thought Valdosta was a better place to be with her family as it was more quiet and slower-paced. She sold her salon to friends and moved to Valdosta.

For months, Jones had nothing to do, so she decided it was time to get busy. At first, she wanted to open a tanning salon again because that’s what she does best.

After some research and thinking, Jones opened Envy Boutique last year.

The boutique has been going so good that Jones needed to move to a bigger place.

“In two weeks, we are moving from the 800-square-feet place to 3,400-square-feet one right next to Belks,” she said.

The store will have a bigger jeans selection, more shoes, men’s clothing, plus sizes as well as formal wear.

Although the boutique is going great, Jones still had the idea of a tanning salon in the back of her mind.

“My daughter and I love to go tan,” she said. “My name was out there with the Envy Boutique already, so I decided whatever I did, I was going to use that name, but a different look and the same concept about customer service.”

Jones wanted to avoid the typical beachy tanning salon with palm trees. Instead, she created an atmosphere of a hotel lobby, so customers can feel like they are registering at a hotel and are away on vacation, even if only for a few minutes.

The tanning salon also had to have moden-technology tanning beds and quality products, and excellent customer service that educates customers on the tanning process.

“A lot of people are not educated on how to tan and are concerned about it, but if you do it in moderation, it’s great,” she explained. “If you overeat or overdrink, it’s certainly not healthy for you either.”

Jones noted some doctors even recommend tanning to their patients for the Vitamin D the tanning beds provide and she already has a customer who goes there regularly because of a doctor’s recommendation.

She makes sure every customer is treated with a lot of attention. If someone has not been there before, he or she is taken on a little educational tour explaining the benefits of each bed and what is needed to achieve the desired effect.

Envy Island Tan is the only tanning salon in Valdosta that has the Mystic Tan.

“Me and my daughter are huge fans of the Mystic Tan which is what I had in Orlando,” Jones said.

The Mystic Tan is a spray-on tanning system that sprays solution evenly on the whole body, and it creates a very natural look that continues to darken hours after the session because it gets deeper into the skin pores, unlike other spray-on systems where the skin turns orange, she explained.

Jones cares about her customers both at the store and the tanning salon and that is why she tries always providing them with enough information so they can make the best choices.

“I love all of my customers, and I enjoy that bond I create with them,” she said.

According to her, it’s very important for young girls to have self-esteem, and she has witnessed many times how the clothes she sells at the boutique and the tanning services transform girls who are conscious about their appearance into confident individuals. Such results among her customers encourage her to always look for unique and different clothes and accessories and bring them to Valdosta for them.

As far as the tanning salon, it opened on Sept. 24, but it will expand in the near future, adding more beds and casual clothes such as swimsuits, beach dresses, flip-flops, shorts, shirts and accessories. With the fast-paced development of both businesses, Jones said she is planning to franchise them in the South, branch the name “Envy,” create perfume and tanning lotion as well as a clothes line.

Envy Island Tan and Envy Boutique are open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. Envy Island Tan is located at 1337 Baytree Road. For more information, call Envy Boutique at (229) 241-8889, and Envy Island Tan at (229) 245-8267. Also, visit www.EnvyIslandTan.com.