Baja History
Baja Beach was founded by Dave Lengel in 1994. Dave started the business under the name 5th Street Beach Inc. and opened his first salon with only 4 tanning units on the 5th Street Highway in Plaza 222. Dave opened a second location on Penn Avenue in Sinking Spring in 1996 and changed the name to Baja Beach Tanning Club.
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The Sinking Spring salon moved to its current location in 2000 and Dave took in his first Partner, his high school friend, Paul Schonour. After tanning at Baja Beach for several years, Bert Dutt joined Dave and Paul as a Partner in 2001. Shortly after, the guys opened a third location in Wyomissing’s Golds Gym. That location expanded in 2004 to include 20 units with “the island” which is now known as Building 24.
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The Mt. Penn salon opened in January of 2002 and Bert Dutt managed that location from 2002-2004. Adding the Mt. Penn salon helped us cover the final corner of Berks County providing our clients with 4 convenient locations.
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In 2005 the guys opened Baja Express; a 6-unit facility on State Hill Road. In 2008 they combined the Wyomissing and Baja Express salons and opened the current Wyomissing location; a state of the art 29-unit facility that would serve as the Baja Beach Corporate Headquarters.
In 2006, Bridget Holleran Coe began working for Baja Beach at the original 5th Street Highway salon. By 2009, 5th Street was ready to expand and the guys opened the current 32-unit mega salon in the Fairgrounds Square Mall. Over the years, Bridget managed several of the salons and joined the Ownership Team in 2016. The same year the Baja Team opened Slim Body Beauty Spa inside of the Wyomissing Location to bring some of the latest wellness equipment to Berks County.
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In October of 2020, Bridget became the sole owner of Baja Beach Tanning Club.
Over the years we have grown and expanded but one thing has always stayed the same; our goal is for every client to leave our salons feeling better than when they came through the door. Our clients have become like family to us and we are so grateful to them for their loyalty and support. We look forward to making Berks County look and feel their best for years to come!