CULLMAN, Ala. – Two longtime local businesses – Sportsworld Skate Center and Tan Shack – have changed hands and undergone facelifts over the last nearly 18 months.
Shae and Valerie Gentry, originally from Montgomery, relocated to Cullman many years ago. They said they felt led to purchase Tan Shack two months ago and to purchase and remodel Sportsworld in March 2025.
“I felt God put it on my heart one day,” Valerie Gentry said. “I tanned as a teenager and hadn’t been back to a tanning salon in years. One morning I decided I needed to work on a base tan for an upcoming vacation we had planned. So I looked for tanning salons in town and found the Tan Shack. I went in and had a great experience and came home and said to Shae, ‘We should consider looking into what it would look like to own a tanning salon.’”
Just a couple of days later, she said, they discovered Tan Shack was for sale.
“We both knew that it was a God thing that led us to the Tan Shack,” Gentry said. “I am a certified life coach and have been operating my life coaching business for over 11 years. The Tan Shack is a place and space where people come in and share what’s going on in their life and look for support. They need people to hold space and it just felt like a perfect alignment for my background. I have a heart of service and I feel like I can really serve and love people in this environment. The same goes for the skating rink.”
She said at Sportsworld, they wanted to create a safe space for people to gather and leave their daily troubles behind.
“Shae grew up skating his entire life,” Gentry said. “The skating rink for him, as a teenager, was his safe haven. We raised our daughters roller-skating, and when we started going to Sportsworld in Cullman, we saw how bad of shape it was in. Shae said that he was going to buy the rink one day, fix it up and turn it around. A few years later, he did just that. We felt like the community deserved a nice space and the rink deserved to be redone as well. We have created a community of friends and family within the rink that love and support each other.”
The Gentrys said they care about their customers and they aren’t looking to just make a buck — they want to make a difference.
“We want to pour into these businesses to create a better experience for our customers because our customers matter to us,” Valerie Gentry said. “We are planning on hosting an event at Tan Shack created around the introduction of new ownership. That should be happening in the next few months after we have completed the updates we are currently working on.”
They will have a Shuffle Skate event at Sportsworld on Halloween for ages 10 and older.
They also hold special events like 18+ Skate the second Sunday of every month, and 16+ Skate on the fourth Saturday of every month. There is a speed-skating team for all ages.
“These local businesses are a place that people can come to and feel safe, supported and find somebody to talk to if they need it,” Gentry said. “We are faith based and strongly believe that God has put us in these places so that we can love and support people and help them feel better about themselves. Whether it’s exercising by skating or tanning to clear up skin conditions, help with bone and joint pain or to give their skin a beautiful glow to help them feel confident. We love to give back to the community by supporting our schools, churches and athletes.”
Tan Shack is located at: 1618 Second Ave. SW in Cullman. Find it online at Facebook/Tan Shack Cullman.
Sportsworld Skate Center is located at 90 County Road 1223 in Vinemont. Find it online at www.sportsworldskate.com.
The Tan Shack (Lauren Estes/The Cullman Tribune)
