Fifteen Minutes: Tan, Rinse, Repeat

Erin Cleaners

2 Ellory St., Cambridge

M-F 7am-7pm. Sa 8am-6pm.

617.876.2550

About Hair

1 Arrow St., Cambridge

M-F 9am-8pm, Sa 9am-6pm, Su noon-6pm

617.868.8213

In this day and age where a single Pantene bottle can both shampoo and condition hair and a pint of Ben & Jerryis and the hottest Leonardo DiCaprio flick can be ordered on the same website, the combo idea continues to flourish. The latest innovation: dry cleaning and ifakebakingi can be done at a single store. Just a short walk beyond the frenzy of the Square lies Erin Cleaners, a friendly establishment that caters to the two seemingly disparate services of dry cleaning and tanning.

Tucked behind the racks of neatly pressed shirts and pants are two private rooms that each house a state-of-the-art tanning bed. iThere was extra space in the back so tanning beds seemed like a good idea,i explains the storeowner. This curious combination of services has been unwrinkling clothes and wrinkling skin since 1993. She remarks that although her tanning business has waned in the past three years due to increasing paranoia over melanoma, there are still some regulars.

iWe canit all jet off to the Caribbean when we feel the need for a little sunshine but at least I can look like I did,i justifies one sophomore who frequents Erin Cleaners. And, for all those fearless sun-seekers, this hidden gem of artificial sunlight is also quite a bargaino$5 a pop for a single visit, or for the mere price of $29.95 one can purchase unlimited visits to the tanning salon for 30 days. Simply drop off that merino wool cardigan, and head under the lamps.

But Erin Cleaners isnit the only establishment to jump on the combo-bandwagon. Despite the name, About Hair, the cozy store on Arrow Street, is not simply iabout hair.i In fact, for the past year and a half About Hair has been divided into a hair salon and antique shop, to suit the two main interests of the owner Duncan Purdy. If the student discounts (20 percent off haircuts and 10 percent off antiques) arenit enough to entice customers to this new-fangled combination store, then perhaps the thought of browsing through lamps and bric-a-bracs while waiting for a wash-and-blow-dry might draw people in. Indeed the antique collectibles provide quite the alternative to browsing through Seventeen. This side business has actually proved highly profitable for the storeowner. One woman who came to About Hair for a routine haircut actually left with untouched locks and an $800 antique bureau.

In the future, Cambridge may look forward to such innovations as the foot massage-French bistro. After all, as an employee at About Hair likes to say, iThis is Cambridge, land of the fruit and nuts. Anything goes.i

oRebecca E. Bienstock