Charting goGLOW’s Growth Path
In a market that overindexes on successful franchise brands—particularly in wellness and beauty, with Anytime Fitness, Great Clips, and the fast-growing Face Foundrié—there’s another rising star: goGLOW spray tan studio.
With corporate owned storefronts in Edina, Maple Grove, and Chicago, goGLOW’s franchise units start opening this fall in Houston, Texas; Rochester Hills, Michigan; and Oxford, Mississippi.
Founder Melanie Richards was a parole officer in search of a creative outlet when she launched goGLOW as a mobile business in 2011. One truck quickly became four, and she opened her first storefront at 50th and France in 2015.
Chicago followed in 2017, and that out-of-state success gave Richards the confidence that she could franchise her concept.
She worked with a chemist to develop her own proprietary sunless tanning solution made with “clean” ingredients; the solution is fragrance-free, isn’t sticky, and doesn’t dry out skin.
“We’ve outsmarted the sun,” Richards says. “You can get a nice glow without skin damage.”
She also improved on the experience of spray tanning, from training employees on the best method to apply the spray to a patented overspray booth and all-white studio environment that elevates spray tanning to spa level.
Eight goGLOW franchises are expected to open around the country before the end of the year, with another 30 planned in 2025.
