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Anytime Fitness has steadily climbed the Entrepreneur Franchise 500 list during the past six years. This year, the Hastings, MN-based company finds itself ahead of all other fitness club companies.
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Life Time Fitness recently faced a social media issue that many other clubs will face if they have not already—an employee tweeting something unflattering about another employee. In Life Time's case, a cycling instructor tweeted a picture of a McDonald's bag on another employee's desk with a comment about how this lunchtime fare did not fit the Chanhassen, MN-based company's brand as the "healthy way of life company."
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Total revenue for the 14 clubs in the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association's (IHRSA) "2011 Third Quarter Index" increased 8.4 percent as membership dues revenue and non-dues revenue improved by 6.7 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively, in third quarter 2011.
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Fitness facility operators may want to start picking up the phone to motivate their members or potential members. Telephone outreach encouraging physical activity and healthier eating is effective, according to a recent review of past studies on these methods of outreach.
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Renovated rec centers at Purdue University and Nicholls State University will open their doors to students and faculty this fall.
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Blair McHaney writes about how great "social proprioception" in your personal training department can create great profits for your facility.
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Stephen Tharrett writes about how the LA Fitness acquisition of 171 Bally Total Fitness clubs has cast a spotlight on the challenges that come with purchasing, selling and closing clubs. In the first part of this two-part series, he shares some of the challenges and benefits involved in acquisitions.
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I signed on for 10 personal training sessions about a month ago, something I had been considering doing for almost two years. Why it took me, a regular exerciser and gym-goer, so long to decide to finally do personal training may offer you some insights into what is holding back some of your members from doing the same.
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24 Hour Fitness, San Ramon, CA, and Fitness magazine have formed a partnership for the magazine's You Can Do It! program in which readers can download a free 24 Hour Fitness guest pass and participate in the exclusive Best Body Ever workout class, which will be held Saturday at select 24 Hour clubs nationwide. The class will feature metabolism-boosting moves designed by 24 Hour Fitness pros Ingrid Owen and Zen Nguyen. More information about the program can be found at www.fitnessmagazine.com/bestbody.
Anytime Fitness, Hastings, MN, opened the first of several clubs in the Middle East on Jan. 1 in Qatar. Almuftah Marketing, a division of the Almuftah Group, will own and operate the clubs in Qatar, according to the terms of an area development agreement with Anytime Fitness that was signed last year.
The management of Town Sports International, New York, will participate in the 14th annual ICR XChange Conference at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, FL. Bob Giardina, president and CEO, and Dan Gallagher, chief financial officer, are scheduled to present at the conference at 8:25 a.m. ET on Jan. 11. The audio portion of the presentation will be webcast live at www.mysportsclubs.com under the investor relations section. A replay will be available two hours after the event.
Another Cardinal Fitness club has closed in Indianapolis, according to multiple local media reports. Memberships from the club will be honored at a nearby Gold's Gym. Cardinal Fitness closed six clubs in Indianapolis in November.
Employees at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who work out may have an added benefit of discounted health insurance premiums as the university explores ways to improve its wellness programs. School officials also are considering partnering with 24 Hour Fitness or another health club company to offer employees less expensive fitness center membership rates. A new weight-loss program also is being planned on the Boulder campus.
A new Kroc Center will open at the end of January in South Bend, IN. The 110,000-square-foot facility is the first one in Indiana, but it is among 27 Kroc Centers across the United States, 10 of which will open this year. In addition to the Indiana location, Kroc Center openings are planned for Chicago; Honolulu; Phoenix; Suisin City, CA; and Guayama, Puerto Rico. The facilities will range from about 40,000 square feet to 200,000 square feet.
The Stoughton YMCA, Brockton, MA, held an open house for its new Family Fitness Center at the Old Colony YMCA branch on Tuesday. The facility has a family area where parents, children and grandparents can work out together on equipment that is designed to engage children and those with fitness mobility issues to work out together. The family fitness area features step-through recumbent bikes, an upper-body cycle, interactive bikes and Jacobs Ladders as options for younger members. The cardio area has more than 17 pieces of equipment, and the functional training studio includes 16 ceiling-mounted TRX resistance trainers, kettlebells and battle ropes.
The Redlands YMCA, San Bernardino, CA, has added $200,000 in equipment to its fitness center, replacing all of its three-year-old equipment. The new equipment includes 16 treadmills, 14 cross-trainers, eight exercise bikes, two summit trainers and three stairclimbers. A NuStep exercise machine has been added as well to aid in the recovery of heart attack victims. The YMCA plans to replace the equipment every three years.
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Mad Dogg Athletics Inc., Venice, CA, has hired Rick Wallace as chief operating officer. Wallace will help Mad Dogg manage its growth and global expansion in equipment-based education and its Spinning, Peak Pilates, Bodyblade and Resist-A-Ball brands. Wallace had been managing partner at Oak Strategy Partners, a specialty advisory firm. His business experience spans mergers and acquisitions, operations and business consulting, financial management, manufacturing, distribution, engineering, quality systems, and customer relations. His fitness industry experience includes a tenure as president and CEO of Icarian from 1991 to 2004, as well as a long cycling history dating back to the early 1980s when he competed as a top U.S. amateur.
Shape.Net, Colts Neck, NJ, has hired Dennis Holcom as vice president of sales. Holcom has more than 20 years of experience in the fitness industry, some of which were as a health club operator. The scope of his experience has spanned membership sales, club management, marketing, sales and logistics, as well as team building and leadership and operations administration. Most recently, Holcom served as vice president of sales for the West Coast at ABC Financial. Prior to this, he was the vice president of sales at Motionsoft.
Med-Fit Systems Inc., Fallbrook, CA-based manufacturer of Nautilus commercial products, has promoted Juergen Kopf to vice president of international sales and marketing. In 1994, Kopf joined the company as director of therapy products. He advanced to vice president of sales and operations. In February 2011, with Med-Fit Systems' acquisition of Nautilus commercial assets, Kopf became director of international sales. Med-Fit Systems' CEO, Dean Sbragia, said, "Juergen Kopf has played a critical role in our company for nearly 20 years…He is as close to irreplaceable as an employee can be, and I have stated before that if our roles were reversed, I would look forward to working for Juergen."
ABC Financial, Little Rock, AR, is the preferred software and billing provider for World Gym International, Los Angeles, the companies announced Tuesday. World Gym has more than 200 franchisees worldwide. "I am excited that we are able to take our relationship with World Gym to the next level," Steve Ayers, senior vice president of sales and marketing for ABC Financial, said in a statement.
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We appreciate readers' comments and discussions on our Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages and online stories. Take a look at what people in the fitness business community are saying and join the conversation.
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