With no warning, the Un-Sun stopped shining last week, leaving the store's clients unable to contact the owner.

Customers coming to the Un-Sun Tanning Salon in the Westpark Shopping Center at 6400 Baltimore National Pike found two printed yellow signs stating "Sorry Out of Business" on the front doors June 17.

The closing came just a few days after customers noticed the business wasn't opening as usual.

Catonsville resident Amy Schell said she saw a "Sorry-we're-closed sign" on June 12.

"I just thought I would come back the next day, but the sign was still up Friday," she said.

Those who called the salon after June 17 heard a recording of a woman's voice saying "Un-Sun Tanning Salon is no longer in business." That message was still heard as of June 23.

Customers contacted by the Catonsville Times said they knew the owner to be quite friendly, but none knew anything other than that her first name is Maria.

Debbie Mandelson, a customer for more than 10 years, said she was among those on a first-name basis with the owner.

"I couldn't imagine that she would do something like this," the Catonsville resident said. "I don't know what's going on."

A Web site for Sunbed Service and Supply, a Baltimore company that sells and repairs tanning beds, includes a testimonial from a "Maria Webler" who wrote that she has owned a 32-bed salon called "UnSun Tanning" in Catonsville since 1985.

Attempts by a reporter to contact anyone from Un-Sun in Catonsville, including a Maria Webler, were unsuccessful.

Two other Un-Sun Tanning Salons exist in the metropolitan area.

But neither the location in Reisterstown nor the one in Columbia is affiliated with the Catonsville business anymore, according to the Columbia location's manager Matthew Sittig.

Sittig said a woman he didn't know started the two salons after opening the Catonsville store, but sold them around 1989 or 1990.

Several longtime customers expressed surprise and disappointment at last week's unexpected closing.

Sandy Krebs said she had been a customer for more than three years and when she went for a tanning session a week or so before the store closed, business seemed normal.

"They were still selling memberships like nothing was going on," said Krebs, who lives in Baltimore. "It seemed to be busy. Maybe it was the time of day I went, but there was always groups of people going in there."

She said she bought a $25 card for 200 minutes of tanning recently.

She said she thinks that card is now worthless.

Schell, a customer for 11 years, figures to be out quite a bit more.

Each year for Christmas, her husband bought her a gift certificate for a year of tanning sessions plus $100 credit for items such as tanning lotion, Schell said.

"I just about lost it I when found out what was going on," Schell said. "I had a year's worth of sessions up there already paid for."

Craig Peddicord, an Un-Sun customer for around six years, said he didn't know if he'd file a complaint or not because he only had the $25 card for 200 minutes, and he planned to dispute that charge on his credit card bill.

Learning the salon had closed caught him by surprise, he said.

"Every time I went in, there were always people there," said Peddicord, an Ellicott City resident. "It wasn't like they were hurting for business."

Marianna Gollery, a 10-year customer, agreed.

"I am kind of surprised. It always has a lot of people going in," said Gollery, a Catonsville resident.

Raquel Gillory, a spokeswoman for the Maryland attorney general's office, said customers should file complaints with her office whenever a business closes after they've prepaid for services.

"In a situation like this, when a business closes suddenly and customers have paid for services in advance, they should absolutely file a complaint with our office," she said.

"Our office tries to act on behalf of consumers to try and recoup their money," she said.

Collecting money from tanning salons isn't easy because they don't have to be bonded, which forces a business to put up money initially to repay customers if it closes, Gillory said.

To contact the attorney general's consumer protection division or file a complaint, call 410-528-8662 or go to www.oag.state.md.us/Consumer/complaint.htm.

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