Vitamin D Tanning

Hello, let us introduce ourselves.  Jeff and Tammy Rider, we are the owners of Vitamin D Tanning Salon.  I have worked at BCBSM for 18 years and Tammy has been with BCBSM for 12 years.   Together we have 5 wonderful children that range in age from 18 years old to 7 years old.  We also have a beautiful bulldog puppy named Sparky.  Tammy and I have talked for years about owning our own business, but to be honest, I never thought it would become a reality.  We had thrown around the idea of a couple of franchised companies downtown Grand Rapids, but just couldn’t seem to find the right fit for US.  In our talks of what and where we found ourselves thinking…what else could we add to the existing business to make them more profitable?   I had asked Tammy about the chance of adding tanning beds to one of them and it would not be allowed due to franchising rules and such.  That is when we seriously started discussing the possibility of opening a tanning business right downtown where we have worked for 5 years and spend a lot of our time. 

At that point things just started falling into place for us, Tammy noticed the vacant building/suite and spoke to me that night on our drive home about the building and its location.  I called on it the next day and met Jed @ Grubb & Ellis at the building and we took a look inside.  It was a big empty building that needed a lot of work.  The building had been last used as an Art Prize venue, but before that had been vacant for about 20 years.  The concept for our business just took off from there we knew it was a lot of work, but were confident we could get it done.  My wife had found us the perfect employee to run the salon for us when we are at work ourselves, Kathy Krenz had been
Tammy’s circuit coach for 3 years at Curves downtown and she was ready for a change as well. The neighbors around us were great and have been throughout the process.  It sure makes it a lot easier as new business owners starting out when the neighbors and community is behind you. 

We hired out the work that we were not able to do ourselves and got the ball rolling.  We took possession of the building on October 15, 2009 and opened for business less than two months later on January 4, 2010.  While all the build out and work is being done, we are also very busy finding, evaluating and purchasing the tanning equipment for our salon.  Let me tell you that in itself is a task, a lot of driving and looking before purchasing after researching the beds.  Again, we were very fortunate in the great people we met in this process as well, great people, we still stay in touch with them.

This whole process from the original thought of starting our own tanning salon in early September 2009 up until now has been nothing short of incredible.  I know both Tammy and I still say…. do we really own a business?  It seems like a dream and can only hope that it remains that way.  I cannot stress enough that none of this could have been done without the support of our families, both our parents are 100% supportive of the venture and us.  They have been a tremendous help in so many ways we will never be able to thank them enough.  Our children have been wonderful through the process, taking turns helping with the puppy and watching the youngest, I couldn’t ask for better kids.  The support from our neighbors like Charlie’s Taylor shop, West Coast Coffee, and Grand Central Market has been unbelievable.  The City of Grand Rapids, The Downtown Development Authority, and Rockford Development have been very helpful and informative as well. 

Last but certainly not least.  Come down, checkout our salon, even if your not a tanner, come see this upscale salon in the heart of downtown it is really a very nice looking building and we are extremely proud of the work we have put into it.

Our Mission

It is our mission to provide an exception indoor tanning experience to our customers. We will meet this mission by offering high quality equipment and indoor tanning products at a reasonable cost, education to our customers to promote smart tanning practices and by providing a relaxing spa like environment.

Who We Are

Vitamin D Tanning is owned by Jeff and Tammy Rider 

Vitamin D Tanning is proud to be a professional member of the National Tanning Training Institute.

Vitamin D Tanning consultants are certified through the National Tanning Training Institute's Comprehensive Training program.