New tanning and furniture businesses open downtown

By Kristie Hamon, Summer intern
There are two new local businesses in town, Samson and Ma’s and Cyn City Sun.
Samson and Ma’s furniture store opened a week ago in Bridge Street Plaza at the corner of Bridge and Walnut streets.
The owners are Rob and Heidi Samson and Rob’s mom Judy Arrosmith, hence the name Samson and Ma’s.
“(The store is) family-owned and operated,” Samson said.
The three owners and the Samson daughter, Hailey Faith, are from Fleming County and drive to Cynthiana to work at the store.
“A lot of people have to go long distance for a job,” Arrosmith said.
Rob Samson said they had a store in Maysville before deciding to relocate to Cynthiana.
He said Cynthiana was a better location for him to get better distributor shipments.
Samson said they can now have furniture shipped to the store from distributors like Lazy Boy, Lane, Simmons and England.
The store is open from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
They sell mattresses with twin-sized bed sets starting at $175, full-sized beds starting at $199, queen sized beds starting at $219 and king-sized beds starting at $469.
Besides mattresses, Samson and Ma’s also sells sofas, love seats, recliners, sectionals and more.
He said they also offer delivery and set up.
“Our goal is to be the best priced furniture store in the area,” Samson said.
Samson said he would like to expand the store eventually.
“We’d like to put some tanning beds in the back,” Samson said.
Right now they are still in the process of fixing the store up. Arrosmith said the building used to be a movie rental store.
This week Samson said they have a special deal.
“For the next week we’ll give $100 free gas for a purchase of $600 or more,” Samson said.
Cyn City Sun opened on Pike Street on May 19 offering a variety of tanning options for customers.
Local owners, Marilyn Dahmer and Polly Wilson, started working to open the shop on March 20.
Both owners work full time jobs in addition to the tanning salon. Dahmer works as a nurse at Harrison Memorial Hospital and Wilson works for the city.
The two decided to open the salon because they felt there was a need for one in the town.
“We’ve seen a need for it from personal experience,” Dahmer said.
She said they were tired of calling other tanning salons and being turned away.
“All winter long we drove to Paris to tan,” Dahmer said. She said that’s when Wilson said “Let’s do it.”
The salon has seven tanning rooms and six beds including a 10 minute high pressure stand up bed. Dahmer said the beds all have bronzing bulbs in them which have lower UV light so that guests bronze instead of burn.
The seventh room does not currently have a bed in it but Dahmer said they are hoping to get a level four bed by the end of the year. Right now, she said the room has a TV and chairs in it for children to wait while their parents tan.
Airbrush tanning is done by employees, Dahmer said adding that customers wear swimsuits.
She said most people have said they see a more even tan when employees do it rather than an automatic booth. If customers find an uneven spot, touch-ups are free.
Additionally, Dahmer said the chemical they use for airbrushing is organic and hypo allergenic.
Dahmer and Wilson, who are related, have gutted and renovated the building themselves with the help of family.
“We’ve got a big family,” Dahmer said.
She said her grandparents and other family members came to help renovate the building and set things up. Dahmer said she was up until 2 a.m. one morning putting the flooring in.
“We’ve had a lot of bad luck and it’s been a lot of hard work,” Dahmer said. “We’re happy to have it open.”
She said she is thankful for all the help they have received because they helped out of the kindness of their hearts.
“We would just like to thank all of our family and friends,” Dahmer said.
The salon offers three levels of tanning beds. For levels one and two, a single visit is $5, 10 visits are $30 and a month unlimited is $35. For level three and stand-up, a single visit is $7, 10 visits are $40 and a month unlimited is $45. A single visit airbrush tan is $20 and three visits is $50. Call ahead for appointment and pre-tan instructions.
The salon has been offering special deals since opening. One week they had Jersey Thursday for deals on one of their tanning lotions. The first week they had $3 tans.
Dahmer said every month they are going to pick a different business to give employees fliers for special deals that month.
She said the salon will special order any line of products that anyone would want to use. She said they have products for all price ranges.
The salon, located where Dana Doyle Photography used to be, is open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Dahmer said anyone is welcome to come tan.
“We don’t turn anyone away,” Dahmer said.

Kristie Hamon

Rob Samson, Hailey Faith Samson and Judy Arrosmith

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Kristie Hamon

Marilyn Dahmer, co-owner of Cyn City Sun.

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Kristie Hamon

Polly Wilson, co-owner of Cyn City Sun.

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