Health Club News…Titan Fitness has completed a $4.6 million equity offering.

HOUSTON — Titan Fitness has completed a $4.6 million equity offering, raising the amount from three investors. The owner and operator of 15 Fitness Connection health clubs in Raleigh, N.C., Reno, Nevada, and Houston, Texas is backed by WestView Capital Partners, a $500 million private equity fund based in Boston, and National City Equity Partners, a Cleveland based private equity fund.Executives and directors named in an SEC filing disclosing the capital raise include:

– Jeffrey Skeen, CEO
– A.J. Mushtaq, CFO
– Aaron Lieberman, CDO
– Dal Clayton, COO
– Josh Harwood, SVP
– John Turner from Boston-based WestView Capital Partners
– Matthew Carroll from WestView Capital Partners
– Richard Williams from WestView Capital Partners
– Steve Pattison from Cleveland-based National City Equity Partners

Prior to forming Titan Fitness, Skeen was a principal and the CEO of Titan Management Solutions (TMS), where he worked with Gold’s Gym franchisees in opening and operating gyms throughout the U.S. Before that, Skeen was a principal and CIO of Gold’s Gym International for four years.Headquartered in McLean, Va., Titan creates, acquires, and operate health clubs and says that it intends to purchase health club chains with strong management teams in place that have a focus on growth. Titan says that it will provide the processes, systems and tools for each regional management team to operate as fitness franchise in their respective markets.Earlier this month, Gold’s Gym International announced that it has agreed to part ways with Titan Fitness.
By Brian Wolak

Health Club News…Titan Fitness has completed a $4.6 million equity offering.

HOUSTON — Titan Fitness has completed a $4.6 million equity offering, raising the amount from three investors. The owner and operator of 15 Fitness Connection health clubs in Raleigh, N.C., Reno, Nevada, and Houston, Texas is backed by WestView Capital Partners, a $500 million private equity fund based in Boston, and National City Equity Partners, a Cleveland based private equity fund.Executives and directors named in an SEC filing disclosing the capital raise include:

– Jeffrey Skeen, CEO
– A.J. Mushtaq, CFO
– Aaron Lieberman, CDO
– Dal Clayton, COO
– Josh Harwood, SVP
– John Turner from Boston-based WestView Capital Partners
– Matthew Carroll from WestView Capital Partners
– Richard Williams from WestView Capital Partners
– Steve Pattison from Cleveland-based National City Equity Partners

Prior to forming Titan Fitness, Skeen was a principal and the CEO of Titan Management Solutions (TMS), where he worked with Gold’s Gym franchisees in opening and operating gyms throughout the U.S. Before that, Skeen was a principal and CIO of Gold’s Gym International for four years.Headquartered in McLean, Va., Titan creates, acquires, and operate health clubs and says that it intends to purchase health club chains with strong management teams in place that have a focus on growth. Titan says that it will provide the processes, systems and tools for each regional management team to operate as fitness franchise in their respective markets.Earlier this month, Gold’s Gym International announced that it has agreed to part ways with Titan Fitness.
By Brian Wolak

Health Club News……The Top 100 Health Clubs

By Stuart Goldman, managing editor
Click Here For Full Story.
Club Industry
On the surface, Club Industry’s Top 100 Clubs list for 2010 looks a lot like the Top 100 Clubs list for 2009. The top four clubs this year were the same top four clubs last year.24 Hour Fitness, San Ramon, CA, is once again at the top of the list with an estimated $1.352 billion in 2010 revenue. This marks the eighth consecutive year that 24 Hour has topped the Top 100 list. 24 Hour, a private company, did not provide a specific revenue number, instead stating that its revenue was more than $1 billion. However, based on the company’s number last year, we have estimated the $1.352 billion. Whereas 24 Hour listed more than 425 clubs in operation at the end of 2009, the company listed 420 clubs in operation at the end of 2010 after the relocation and closing of some clubs. LA Fitness, Irvine, CA, is second for the second year in a row with an estimated $1 billion in 2010 revenue. LA Fitness reported 36 more clubs in 2010 than it had in operation in 2009. (LA Fitness also would not offer a specific figure for 2010 revenue.) Earlier this year, LA Fitness was in discussions to acquire Urban Active, Lexington, KY, which is owned by parent company Global Fitness Holdings, but that deal fell through. Urban Active just missed making the top 10 on this year’s list, coming in at No. 11 with a reported $100.2 million, a 16 percent increase over its $86.7 million revenue in 2009. The proposed acquisition might have pushed LA Fitness into the No. 1 spot on next year’s Top 100 Clubs list. Life Time Fitness, Chanhassen, MN, is No. 3 on the list with a reported $912.8 million in revenue, a 9 percent increase from its 2009 revenue of a reported $837 million. Despite the recession of the previous two years, Life Time has steadily increased its revenue the past three years. It experienced a 9 percent increase in revenue in 2009 from $769.6 million in 2008. Club Corp., Dallas, holds steady at No. 4 with an estimated $812 million in 2010 revenue. Although the company did not provide specific numbers, a source confirmed that the $812 million estimate was in line with the same revenue the company reported in 2009.
The new club on this year’s list is not really a new name but perhaps the most intriguing. Bally Total Fitness, Chicago, which became a private company after two bankruptcies and did not report revenue figures a year ago, is No. 5 with a reported $550 million in 2010 revenue. That figure is a 48 percent decrease from its reported revenue of $1.059 billion in 2006. Bally’s decline includes a sharp drop from 2006 to 2007 revenue ($650 million) and a slight decrease from 2007 to 2008 revenue ($634 million). Bally reported 276 clubs in operation in 2010. That’s also a sharp decline from the 400 clubs it had in operation in 2006. Bally closed a number of clubs after its second bankruptcy in 2009. It remains to be seen whether Bally will appear on next year’s Top 100 Clubs list. As of the date this story was posted, there were indications of serious negotiations of a sale of Bally to Gold’s Gym International, Irving, TX, which would produce a seismic shift in the landscape of the industry. Gold’s, which is owned by private equity firm TRT Holdings, has not reported revenue figures for several years, although it did report 700 clubs in operation in 2010. A Bally sale has been rumored in the past, especially after its second bankruptcy. According to several sources, this time, a sale could be imminent. Town Sports International, New York, comes in at No. 6 on this year’s list with a reported $462.4 million in revenue. That’s a 5 percent decrease from 2009 ($485.4 million) and a 9 percent decrease from 2008 ($506.7 million). Planet Fitness, Newington, NH, continues its steady rise on the Top 100 Clubs list, ranking No. 7 with $157.1 million in 2010 revenue, a 21 percent increase from 2009 ($129.5 million). Planet Fitness, which was No. 8 last year and No. 10 two years ago, reported 390 clubs in operation compared to 310 in 2009. The 2010 revenue for Planet Fitness includes its 33.3 percent stake in PFNY LLC, Yonkers, NY, a Planet Fitness franchisee that operates 26 clubs in the New York City area. PFNY is No. 20 on this year’s Top 100 list with $56.3 million in 2010 revenue. Capital Fitness Inc., Big Rock, IL, which operates Xsport Fitness, is No. 8 with $142 million in revenue. Rounding out the top 10 are No. 9 Western Athletic Clubs, San Francisco ($121 million, which was a 13 percent increase in revenue), and No. 10 Lifestyle Family Fitness, St. Petersburg, FL ($102.4 million). After Urban Active at No. 11, the next four club companies on this year’s list also are familiar names in the industry: No. 12 Midtown Athletic Clubs, Chicago ($93 million); No. 13 Millennium Partners Sports Club Management, Boston ($92 million); No. 14 Sport and Health, McLean, VA ($90 million); and No. 15 Club One, San Francisco ($79.5 million). Of those four companies, Midtown Athletic Clubs experienced the greatest revenue growth—a 12 percent increase from its $83 million in revenue in 2009. Equinox, New York, which was No. 6 on last year’s Top 100 Clubs list with an estimated $344 million in revenue, did not provide numbers for this year’s list, so it has been moved to the missing club company list. For all companies on this year’s Top 100 Clubs list that did not provide specific revenue figures for 2010, their revenue was estimated flat.
After the July issue of Club Industry went to press, Spectrum Athletic Clubs, El Segundo, CA, reported it had $90 million in revenue in 2010, which would have placed the company in a tie for 14th on this year’s Top 100 Clubs list. However, because its 2009 revenue of $89.2 million was an estimate, the company does not appear on this year’s list. Also, New York Health and Racquet Club (NYHRC), New York, responded with its financial information for 2010 after the July issue deadline. NYHRC reported $41 million in revenue for 2010, which would have placed the company 27th on this year’s list. However, it is listed at No. 21 on this year’s list with a flat estimate of $55.7 million from 2009. One company that made a huge leap on the Top 100 Clubs list was American Leisure Corp., Nanuet, NY. American Leisure jumped from No. 83 on last year’s list (when it had an estimated $7.2 million) to No. 48 with a reported $20 million in 2010. Officials at the company credit the acquisition of a few big accounts—one of which is in Saudi Arabia—for the increase. PH Fitness Inc., dba Fitness First, Frederick MD, also had a dramatic increase in revenue. PH Fitness reported $36.8 million in 2010, good for 31st place on this year’s list. Last year, PH Fitness was at No. 45 after reporting $25 million in 2009. Owner Peter Harvey credits implementing personal training in his clubs for the rise in revenue.“Frankly, it’s getting more competitive than ever,” Harvey says.
Making its debut on the Top 100 Clubs list is Mountainside Fitness, Tempe, AZ, which tied for 44th with Healthworks Fitness Centers, Boston, with $23 million in 2010 revenue. Eight of the nine Mountainside clubs are in Arizona, with the other club located in Colorado. Anytime Fitness, Hastings, MN, and Snap Fitness, Chanhassen, MN—both 24-hour key-card club companies—climbed a few spots this year. Anytime Fitness reported $33.7 million in revenue in 2010, a 12 percent increase that moved it from 38th to 35th place on this year’s list. Snap Fitness reported $29 million in 2010 revenue, a 9 percent increase that moved it from 44th to 41st place. Cooper Fitness Center, Dallas, saw a decrease in revenue, caused by the fact that it no longer owns the Craig Ranch location but does have a management contract to run the facility. Cooper Fitness Center reported $8.3 million in 2010 revenue after reporting $12.4 million in 2009 revenue, resulting in a fall from 62nd to 78th place on this year’s list. Of the 100 companies on this year’s list, nearly half (47) reported increases in revenue from 2009 to 2010. Only 17 club companies reported decreases in revenue compared to 36 companies that had decreases on last year’s list. In some cases, revenue increases or decreases were influenced by the number of employees that companies reported in 2010. Of the 100 companies on this list, 28 gained employees, and 28 had fewer employees than they had in 2009. Almost one-fourth of the companies (23) had no change in their number of employees. The Top 100 Clubs list ranks club companies by revenue in the previous year. It is not intended to rank clubs based on quality or segment service.
Missing Clubs
The following clubs and franchisors are large enough to be included on the Top 100 Clubs list, but their owners did not complete a Top 100 Clubs form, and we were not able to find another way to estimate their revenue.

The Alaska Clubs, Anchorage, AK
Bailey’s Gym Inc., dba Powerhouse Gyms, Jacksonville, FL
Brick Bodies, Cockeysville, MD
California Family Fitness, Orangevale, CA
Champion Fitness Inc., dba Bally Total Fitness, Syracuse, NY
Chelsea Piers, New York, NY
Club Fit, Jefferson Valley, NY
Curves, Waco, TX
Equinox, New York, NY
Fitness USA, West Bloomfield, MI
Franco’s Athletic Clubs, Mandeville, LA
Gold’s Gym International, Irving, TX
Healthplex Sports Club, Springfield, PA
In-Shape Health Club Inc., Stockton, CA
Lady of America, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Lakeshore Athletic Clubs, Chicago
MVP Sportsclubs, Orlando, FL
PRO Sports Club, Bellevue, WA
SIM Investment Corp., dba The Right Stuff Health Club, San Jose, CA
Spectrum Athletic Clubs, El Segundo, CA
Titan Fitness Holdings, McLean, VA
Wheaton Sports Center, Wheaton, IL
Women’s Workout World, Chicago
WOW! Work Out World, Wall, NJ
WTS International, Rockville, MD

Health Club News……The Top 100 Health Clubs

By Stuart Goldman, managing editor
Click Here For Full Story.
Club Industry
On the surface, Club Industry’s Top 100 Clubs list for 2010 looks a lot like the Top 100 Clubs list for 2009. The top four clubs this year were the same top four clubs last year.24 Hour Fitness, San Ramon, CA, is once again at the top of the list with an estimated $1.352 billion in 2010 revenue. This marks the eighth consecutive year that 24 Hour has topped the Top 100 list. 24 Hour, a private company, did not provide a specific revenue number, instead stating that its revenue was more than $1 billion. However, based on the company’s number last year, we have estimated the $1.352 billion. Whereas 24 Hour listed more than 425 clubs in operation at the end of 2009, the company listed 420 clubs in operation at the end of 2010 after the relocation and closing of some clubs. LA Fitness, Irvine, CA, is second for the second year in a row with an estimated $1 billion in 2010 revenue. LA Fitness reported 36 more clubs in 2010 than it had in operation in 2009. (LA Fitness also would not offer a specific figure for 2010 revenue.) Earlier this year, LA Fitness was in discussions to acquire Urban Active, Lexington, KY, which is owned by parent company Global Fitness Holdings, but that deal fell through. Urban Active just missed making the top 10 on this year’s list, coming in at No. 11 with a reported $100.2 million, a 16 percent increase over its $86.7 million revenue in 2009. The proposed acquisition might have pushed LA Fitness into the No. 1 spot on next year’s Top 100 Clubs list. Life Time Fitness, Chanhassen, MN, is No. 3 on the list with a reported $912.8 million in revenue, a 9 percent increase from its 2009 revenue of a reported $837 million. Despite the recession of the previous two years, Life Time has steadily increased its revenue the past three years. It experienced a 9 percent increase in revenue in 2009 from $769.6 million in 2008. Club Corp., Dallas, holds steady at No. 4 with an estimated $812 million in 2010 revenue. Although the company did not provide specific numbers, a source confirmed that the $812 million estimate was in line with the same revenue the company reported in 2009.
The new club on this year’s list is not really a new name but perhaps the most intriguing. Bally Total Fitness, Chicago, which became a private company after two bankruptcies and did not report revenue figures a year ago, is No. 5 with a reported $550 million in 2010 revenue. That figure is a 48 percent decrease from its reported revenue of $1.059 billion in 2006. Bally’s decline includes a sharp drop from 2006 to 2007 revenue ($650 million) and a slight decrease from 2007 to 2008 revenue ($634 million). Bally reported 276 clubs in operation in 2010. That’s also a sharp decline from the 400 clubs it had in operation in 2006. Bally closed a number of clubs after its second bankruptcy in 2009. It remains to be seen whether Bally will appear on next year’s Top 100 Clubs list. As of the date this story was posted, there were indications of serious negotiations of a sale of Bally to Gold’s Gym International, Irving, TX, which would produce a seismic shift in the landscape of the industry. Gold’s, which is owned by private equity firm TRT Holdings, has not reported revenue figures for several years, although it did report 700 clubs in operation in 2010. A Bally sale has been rumored in the past, especially after its second bankruptcy. According to several sources, this time, a sale could be imminent. Town Sports International, New York, comes in at No. 6 on this year’s list with a reported $462.4 million in revenue. That’s a 5 percent decrease from 2009 ($485.4 million) and a 9 percent decrease from 2008 ($506.7 million). Planet Fitness, Newington, NH, continues its steady rise on the Top 100 Clubs list, ranking No. 7 with $157.1 million in 2010 revenue, a 21 percent increase from 2009 ($129.5 million). Planet Fitness, which was No. 8 last year and No. 10 two years ago, reported 390 clubs in operation compared to 310 in 2009. The 2010 revenue for Planet Fitness includes its 33.3 percent stake in PFNY LLC, Yonkers, NY, a Planet Fitness franchisee that operates 26 clubs in the New York City area. PFNY is No. 20 on this year’s Top 100 list with $56.3 million in 2010 revenue. Capital Fitness Inc., Big Rock, IL, which operates Xsport Fitness, is No. 8 with $142 million in revenue. Rounding out the top 10 are No. 9 Western Athletic Clubs, San Francisco ($121 million, which was a 13 percent increase in revenue), and No. 10 Lifestyle Family Fitness, St. Petersburg, FL ($102.4 million). After Urban Active at No. 11, the next four club companies on this year’s list also are familiar names in the industry: No. 12 Midtown Athletic Clubs, Chicago ($93 million); No. 13 Millennium Partners Sports Club Management, Boston ($92 million); No. 14 Sport and Health, McLean, VA ($90 million); and No. 15 Club One, San Francisco ($79.5 million). Of those four companies, Midtown Athletic Clubs experienced the greatest revenue growth—a 12 percent increase from its $83 million in revenue in 2009. Equinox, New York, which was No. 6 on last year’s Top 100 Clubs list with an estimated $344 million in revenue, did not provide numbers for this year’s list, so it has been moved to the missing club company list. For all companies on this year’s Top 100 Clubs list that did not provide specific revenue figures for 2010, their revenue was estimated flat.
After the July issue of Club Industry went to press, Spectrum Athletic Clubs, El Segundo, CA, reported it had $90 million in revenue in 2010, which would have placed the company in a tie for 14th on this year’s Top 100 Clubs list. However, because its 2009 revenue of $89.2 million was an estimate, the company does not appear on this year’s list. Also, New York Health and Racquet Club (NYHRC), New York, responded with its financial information for 2010 after the July issue deadline. NYHRC reported $41 million in revenue for 2010, which would have placed the company 27th on this year’s list. However, it is listed at No. 21 on this year’s list with a flat estimate of $55.7 million from 2009. One company that made a huge leap on the Top 100 Clubs list was American Leisure Corp., Nanuet, NY. American Leisure jumped from No. 83 on last year’s list (when it had an estimated $7.2 million) to No. 48 with a reported $20 million in 2010. Officials at the company credit the acquisition of a few big accounts—one of which is in Saudi Arabia—for the increase. PH Fitness Inc., dba Fitness First, Frederick MD, also had a dramatic increase in revenue. PH Fitness reported $36.8 million in 2010, good for 31st place on this year’s list. Last year, PH Fitness was at No. 45 after reporting $25 million in 2009. Owner Peter Harvey credits implementing personal training in his clubs for the rise in revenue.“Frankly, it’s getting more competitive than ever,” Harvey says.
Making its debut on the Top 100 Clubs list is Mountainside Fitness, Tempe, AZ, which tied for 44th with Healthworks Fitness Centers, Boston, with $23 million in 2010 revenue. Eight of the nine Mountainside clubs are in Arizona, with the other club located in Colorado. Anytime Fitness, Hastings, MN, and Snap Fitness, Chanhassen, MN—both 24-hour key-card club companies—climbed a few spots this year. Anytime Fitness reported $33.7 million in revenue in 2010, a 12 percent increase that moved it from 38th to 35th place on this year’s list. Snap Fitness reported $29 million in 2010 revenue, a 9 percent increase that moved it from 44th to 41st place. Cooper Fitness Center, Dallas, saw a decrease in revenue, caused by the fact that it no longer owns the Craig Ranch location but does have a management contract to run the facility. Cooper Fitness Center reported $8.3 million in 2010 revenue after reporting $12.4 million in 2009 revenue, resulting in a fall from 62nd to 78th place on this year’s list. Of the 100 companies on this year’s list, nearly half (47) reported increases in revenue from 2009 to 2010. Only 17 club companies reported decreases in revenue compared to 36 companies that had decreases on last year’s list. In some cases, revenue increases or decreases were influenced by the number of employees that companies reported in 2010. Of the 100 companies on this list, 28 gained employees, and 28 had fewer employees than they had in 2009. Almost one-fourth of the companies (23) had no change in their number of employees. The Top 100 Clubs list ranks club companies by revenue in the previous year. It is not intended to rank clubs based on quality or segment service.
Missing Clubs
The following clubs and franchisors are large enough to be included on the Top 100 Clubs list, but their owners did not complete a Top 100 Clubs form, and we were not able to find another way to estimate their revenue.

The Alaska Clubs, Anchorage, AK
Bailey’s Gym Inc., dba Powerhouse Gyms, Jacksonville, FL
Brick Bodies, Cockeysville, MD
California Family Fitness, Orangevale, CA
Champion Fitness Inc., dba Bally Total Fitness, Syracuse, NY
Chelsea Piers, New York, NY
Club Fit, Jefferson Valley, NY
Curves, Waco, TX
Equinox, New York, NY
Fitness USA, West Bloomfield, MI
Franco’s Athletic Clubs, Mandeville, LA
Gold’s Gym International, Irving, TX
Healthplex Sports Club, Springfield, PA
In-Shape Health Club Inc., Stockton, CA
Lady of America, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Lakeshore Athletic Clubs, Chicago
MVP Sportsclubs, Orlando, FL
PRO Sports Club, Bellevue, WA
SIM Investment Corp., dba The Right Stuff Health Club, San Jose, CA
Spectrum Athletic Clubs, El Segundo, CA
Titan Fitness Holdings, McLean, VA
Wheaton Sports Center, Wheaton, IL
Women’s Workout World, Chicago
WOW! Work Out World, Wall, NJ
WTS International, Rockville, MD

Mark Fisher, the president and CEO of Sport&Health

By Tyler Montgomery Club Solutions:
Like many successful people, losing is not an option. Mark Fisher, the president and CEO of Sport&Health located in the Washington D.C. Metro Area, is no exception to the rule. “I’m fiercely competitive and I want to win,” Fisher explained in a quick switch toward a serious tone.Fisher has strived to be a winner his entire life. It’s that winning mentality that has made him so vital to Sport&Health, and why he was asked to continue as President, while also leading as CEO. Fisher, 51, discussed winning at least 10 times throughout the Club Solutions interview. Clearly, the concept is something he takes extremely serious. Winning is the main reason he has stuck with Sport&Health for so many years.In his mind, competition is on the club’s doorstep. “The competition is coming, and the time is now,” he said when discussing a need to constantly be working and advancing. Although, Fisher doesn’t have a lot of time to open a book, he has focused his life on three main literary sources: “The Art of War,” “The Power of Now” and “Rhinoceros Success.”
Each book is significant on its own; however, “The Power of Now” has been a driving force for Fisher. In his mind, there is always going to be tomorrow and yesterday, but today is the day that he is executing — today is the day that Sport&Health is growing.“Now, we have become incredibly focused on improving the member and employee experience,” he said. “That’s probably what I’m bringing to the table now. Creating a sense of community with our clubs, recognizing that our GMs are the key to our success and creating a sense of urgency within our company.”Sport&Health already has a vast membership of about 160,000, in 25 clubs spread throughout the Washington D.C. Metro, which encompasses Maryland, Virginia and the nation’s capital (one of the fittest cities in America, according to Men’s Health Magazine). Fisher said the first thing Sport&Health needed to do to improve the member and employee experience, was to realize the GMs’ importance in the company. “Regardless of the culture we think we have from a corporate perspective, the culture is really driven on the club level by the GMs that have ownership of each location,” he explained. “They are included in the decisions we make as a company — they help shape the direction of the company. We are opening our ears more than ever to their feedback as to what we are doing right, what we are doing wrong and policies we have in place that affect the member experience.”By empowering the GMs, a waterfall effect was created that has extended down to the member. “When the GM is engaged and feels appreciated, they communicate that to the member and they feel empowered when the member brings to our attention something that we could do better,” he explained. “The GMs feel like that’s not going to fall on deaf ears, they believe ‘I can be a voice for the member and share with the ownership group what needs to change.’”Working closer with GMs has given Sport&Health Corporate insight to the members. They can better understand what they are doing well and where they can improve. Although, Fisher understands for a company to improve it must be selfless enough to look at itself objectively.“Honestly, Sport&Health’s time is now,” Fisher expressed. “There has never been more urgency in this company to grow, provide opportunities for our employees and team members, and to make a difference in the member experience. When we roll out an initiative, I want it to be immediate, and because of the size of our company, we can be fairly nimble and quick to change.”
Desire to be Third Place
The above subtitle may appear that Fisher has a desire to be Third Place in the fitness industry. Don’t be so naive. Sport&Health has taken a quick look at Starbucks and its early success.“In the beginning, they did a great job of being that third place,” Fisher said. Starbucks developed themselves to be the third place in a person’s life — work, home and Starbucks. Sport&Health wants to take that third-place position in people’s lives — just another step in bettering the member experience.Sport&Health uses the city of Washington D.C. to entice members to use their facilities outside of fitness. They attempt to have facilities close to members that make it easy for them to utilize restaurants, cafés and other clubs. Fisher said they push members to come to the clubs for Redskin football games. “Members can bring in their own food or we can help them with catering,” Fisher said. “We serve some type of food, including smoothies and sandwiches in all the clubs. One club has a restaurant.”Employees are a major player in terms of improving and sustaining the member experience. For Fisher, the best way to continually improve the member experience is through the GMs — they are the best sources to reaching the third place.Since Fisher has accepted his new role as CEO, he has been devoted to the belief that the speed of the leader is the speed of the pack. He has spent time thinking about the long-term position of Sport&Health. “As it starts to trickle down to the GMs, it’s about avoiding paralysis through analysis. Helping them understand that they can impact the member experience immediately and help us shorten the distance from idea to implementation.”To help the GMs understand their power in the club, Fisher has them come once a month for corporate meetings where they share best practices with each other. “Typically, in a company our size, GMs will feel they are operating on an island,” Fisher said. “Because we are local, it’s fairly easy for us to have all our GMs in one room to discuss what’s working and what’s not working, and how we can improve.”In terms of growth, Sport&Health is engaging its members on the social front by creating social spaces for members to interact. “In our new-build design, we are implementing places where the members want to hang out, where they want to get connected and where they want to relax. We are hosting a lot of social events, parties and member outings. We are a meeting point for the members before they go on their bike rides, their outdoor walks or wine tasting events at our clubs.“You can have a space in your club where you can have a healthy cooking class, or where the members can come together and have a wine tasting party, or where they can all meet after their 5K run and watch the game on TV. And, we are integrating that now.”With all the commitments in people’s lives, with family, work and staying active, it’s important for them to have a place that can harbor all of those needs. Fisher believes that it’s the role of the club, especially Sport&Health, to be that harbor. “We want our clubs to be the third place in somebody’s life. They go to work, they go home and there needs to be this third place in their lives where they can get a number of their hierarchy needs met. Having those social spaces creates a space in our clubs, so that when people are pressed for time, and they only have one spot in their life for another place, their third place, we want it to be one of our clubs. We recognize that people have less and less time, and if they are going to come to our club to workout, we want them to feel a sense of community.”Right Here, Right Now Fisher said there isn’t a time frame for change at Sport&Health. Again, he said the time is now. “There has never been more urgency at this company to grow, provide opportunity for our employees and team members, and to make a difference in the member experience,” Fisher said. “When we roll out initiatives, I want them to be immediate. When we are rolling out something that is going to affect the member experience or the employee experience, I want it to happen today.”Being member focused has been Fisher’s goal since he began working in clubs in high school. Transforming his knowledge of the member experience to his own clubs, Exertech in Wichita, Kan. between 1986 and 1999, gave him the vast knowledge to engage the healthy-member market found in Washington D.C. “A lot of things have come together at the right time, now, for it to be Sport&Health’s time,” Fisher said. “I have a three and five year plan strategically, but everything I’m doing right now as the CEO of this company is about today. I want to impact people today.”Some of the major impacts in the foreseeable future include the addition of three more clubs and becoming a more regional player, all by impacting the member experience.“In 10 years, this company is going to be a very dominant regional player,” Fisher continued. “It’s going to be widely known as a company that cares for and nurtures its employees; it’s going to be known as a company that is an incredibly fierce competitor, and I hope from the population of D.C.’s perspective, as a company that really improves people’s lives.”Although Sport&Health is located in one of the healthiest markets in the U.S., it’s extremely important for Fisher to steer the club to be one of the main reasons for the Metro Area’s healthy success. “We’ve developed relationships with physical therapists, we have five locations with one physical therapist that we’ve developed a great relationship with, so we can be involved in injury prevention. He [the physical therapist] actually trains our personal trainers, and then we can be involved in injury rehab as a portal for people who are seeing an injury therapist for an injury — we are the next step.”By giving personal trainers the knowledge about injury therapy, it’s allowed members to come to Sport&Health as opposed to going home and continuing therapy on their own. “They don’t go home to do the exercises, they actually engage with a personal trainer at our clubs,” Fisher explained. “We’ve been fairly successful at bridging that gap on injury rehab.”The next step for Sport&Health is to build the relationship with hospitals and clinics to incorporate the wellness aspect for the club. Fisher said the need for a partnership between health and fitness has been brought to the attention of the clubs and medical community in the city, but it’s up to Sport&Health to nurture those relationships and assist in bringing them to fruition. Fisher, the leader, the president, the CEO, sees the need and believes the relationship will happen and transform Sport&Health from a fitness facility, to a complete wellness center. -CS
By Tyler Montgomery

Mark Fisher, the president and CEO of Sport&Health

By Tyler Montgomery Club Solutions:
Like many successful people, losing is not an option. Mark Fisher, the president and CEO of Sport&Health located in the Washington D.C. Metro Area, is no exception to the rule. “I’m fiercely competitive and I want to win,” Fisher explained in a quick switch toward a serious tone.Fisher has strived to be a winner his entire life. It’s that winning mentality that has made him so vital to Sport&Health, and why he was asked to continue as President, while also leading as CEO. Fisher, 51, discussed winning at least 10 times throughout the Club Solutions interview. Clearly, the concept is something he takes extremely serious. Winning is the main reason he has stuck with Sport&Health for so many years.In his mind, competition is on the club’s doorstep. “The competition is coming, and the time is now,” he said when discussing a need to constantly be working and advancing. Although, Fisher doesn’t have a lot of time to open a book, he has focused his life on three main literary sources: “The Art of War,” “The Power of Now” and “Rhinoceros Success.”
Each book is significant on its own; however, “The Power of Now” has been a driving force for Fisher. In his mind, there is always going to be tomorrow and yesterday, but today is the day that he is executing — today is the day that Sport&Health is growing.“Now, we have become incredibly focused on improving the member and employee experience,” he said. “That’s probably what I’m bringing to the table now. Creating a sense of community with our clubs, recognizing that our GMs are the key to our success and creating a sense of urgency within our company.”Sport&Health already has a vast membership of about 160,000, in 25 clubs spread throughout the Washington D.C. Metro, which encompasses Maryland, Virginia and the nation’s capital (one of the fittest cities in America, according to Men’s Health Magazine). Fisher said the first thing Sport&Health needed to do to improve the member and employee experience, was to realize the GMs’ importance in the company. “Regardless of the culture we think we have from a corporate perspective, the culture is really driven on the club level by the GMs that have ownership of each location,” he explained. “They are included in the decisions we make as a company — they help shape the direction of the company. We are opening our ears more than ever to their feedback as to what we are doing right, what we are doing wrong and policies we have in place that affect the member experience.”By empowering the GMs, a waterfall effect was created that has extended down to the member. “When the GM is engaged and feels appreciated, they communicate that to the member and they feel empowered when the member brings to our attention something that we could do better,” he explained. “The GMs feel like that’s not going to fall on deaf ears, they believe ‘I can be a voice for the member and share with the ownership group what needs to change.’”Working closer with GMs has given Sport&Health Corporate insight to the members. They can better understand what they are doing well and where they can improve. Although, Fisher understands for a company to improve it must be selfless enough to look at itself objectively.“Honestly, Sport&Health’s time is now,” Fisher expressed. “There has never been more urgency in this company to grow, provide opportunities for our employees and team members, and to make a difference in the member experience. When we roll out an initiative, I want it to be immediate, and because of the size of our company, we can be fairly nimble and quick to change.”
Desire to be Third Place
The above subtitle may appear that Fisher has a desire to be Third Place in the fitness industry. Don’t be so naive. Sport&Health has taken a quick look at Starbucks and its early success.“In the beginning, they did a great job of being that third place,” Fisher said. Starbucks developed themselves to be the third place in a person’s life — work, home and Starbucks. Sport&Health wants to take that third-place position in people’s lives — just another step in bettering the member experience.Sport&Health uses the city of Washington D.C. to entice members to use their facilities outside of fitness. They attempt to have facilities close to members that make it easy for them to utilize restaurants, cafés and other clubs. Fisher said they push members to come to the clubs for Redskin football games. “Members can bring in their own food or we can help them with catering,” Fisher said. “We serve some type of food, including smoothies and sandwiches in all the clubs. One club has a restaurant.”Employees are a major player in terms of improving and sustaining the member experience. For Fisher, the best way to continually improve the member experience is through the GMs — they are the best sources to reaching the third place.Since Fisher has accepted his new role as CEO, he has been devoted to the belief that the speed of the leader is the speed of the pack. He has spent time thinking about the long-term position of Sport&Health. “As it starts to trickle down to the GMs, it’s about avoiding paralysis through analysis. Helping them understand that they can impact the member experience immediately and help us shorten the distance from idea to implementation.”To help the GMs understand their power in the club, Fisher has them come once a month for corporate meetings where they share best practices with each other. “Typically, in a company our size, GMs will feel they are operating on an island,” Fisher said. “Because we are local, it’s fairly easy for us to have all our GMs in one room to discuss what’s working and what’s not working, and how we can improve.”In terms of growth, Sport&Health is engaging its members on the social front by creating social spaces for members to interact. “In our new-build design, we are implementing places where the members want to hang out, where they want to get connected and where they want to relax. We are hosting a lot of social events, parties and member outings. We are a meeting point for the members before they go on their bike rides, their outdoor walks or wine tasting events at our clubs.“You can have a space in your club where you can have a healthy cooking class, or where the members can come together and have a wine tasting party, or where they can all meet after their 5K run and watch the game on TV. And, we are integrating that now.”With all the commitments in people’s lives, with family, work and staying active, it’s important for them to have a place that can harbor all of those needs. Fisher believes that it’s the role of the club, especially Sport&Health, to be that harbor. “We want our clubs to be the third place in somebody’s life. They go to work, they go home and there needs to be this third place in their lives where they can get a number of their hierarchy needs met. Having those social spaces creates a space in our clubs, so that when people are pressed for time, and they only have one spot in their life for another place, their third place, we want it to be one of our clubs. We recognize that people have less and less time, and if they are going to come to our club to workout, we want them to feel a sense of community.”Right Here, Right Now Fisher said there isn’t a time frame for change at Sport&Health. Again, he said the time is now. “There has never been more urgency at this company to grow, provide opportunity for our employees and team members, and to make a difference in the member experience,” Fisher said. “When we roll out initiatives, I want them to be immediate. When we are rolling out something that is going to affect the member experience or the employee experience, I want it to happen today.”Being member focused has been Fisher’s goal since he began working in clubs in high school. Transforming his knowledge of the member experience to his own clubs, Exertech in Wichita, Kan. between 1986 and 1999, gave him the vast knowledge to engage the healthy-member market found in Washington D.C. “A lot of things have come together at the right time, now, for it to be Sport&Health’s time,” Fisher said. “I have a three and five year plan strategically, but everything I’m doing right now as the CEO of this company is about today. I want to impact people today.”Some of the major impacts in the foreseeable future include the addition of three more clubs and becoming a more regional player, all by impacting the member experience.“In 10 years, this company is going to be a very dominant regional player,” Fisher continued. “It’s going to be widely known as a company that cares for and nurtures its employees; it’s going to be known as a company that is an incredibly fierce competitor, and I hope from the population of D.C.’s perspective, as a company that really improves people’s lives.”Although Sport&Health is located in one of the healthiest markets in the U.S., it’s extremely important for Fisher to steer the club to be one of the main reasons for the Metro Area’s healthy success. “We’ve developed relationships with physical therapists, we have five locations with one physical therapist that we’ve developed a great relationship with, so we can be involved in injury prevention. He [the physical therapist] actually trains our personal trainers, and then we can be involved in injury rehab as a portal for people who are seeing an injury therapist for an injury — we are the next step.”By giving personal trainers the knowledge about injury therapy, it’s allowed members to come to Sport&Health as opposed to going home and continuing therapy on their own. “They don’t go home to do the exercises, they actually engage with a personal trainer at our clubs,” Fisher explained. “We’ve been fairly successful at bridging that gap on injury rehab.”The next step for Sport&Health is to build the relationship with hospitals and clinics to incorporate the wellness aspect for the club. Fisher said the need for a partnership between health and fitness has been brought to the attention of the clubs and medical community in the city, but it’s up to Sport&Health to nurture those relationships and assist in bringing them to fruition. Fisher, the leader, the president, the CEO, sees the need and believes the relationship will happen and transform Sport&Health from a fitness facility, to a complete wellness center. -CS
By Tyler Montgomery

Health Club News….Bally Total Fitness opens spacious gym 46,000-square-foot health club

Amy Rosen and many other Bally Total Fitness employees eschewed sleep to work through the night on July 1 and put the finishing touches on a 46,000-square-foot health club scheduled to make its debut in Lansdowne Friday.At 5 a.m., 30 minutes before the club officially opened to the public, Rosen said a man knocked on the front door.Rosen, a spokeswoman for the company who lives in Chicago, said she greeted the man and congratulated him for being the first person to work out at the facility, which has been under construction for about 10 weeks.
The Bally Sport club in the Lansdowne Station shopping center on Washington Boulevard features several workout studios, a three-lane pool, a whirlpool, saunas, a child-care facility, more than 200 pieces of cardio equipment, a large weight lifting area and interactive equipment that tells the schedule of classes and can suggest workouts.”This is the first club of its kind. This is our flagship space right here,” Rosen said. “We have Bally Sport clubs that are older, but they are nothing like this.
“It’s the new generation of our Bally clubs.”Rosen estimated on the eve of the opening that nearly 1,000 people had already signed up.”The premise of this entire club was built on understanding (consumers),” Rosen said. “The thought was, ‘Let’s build it around getting people to get the results they actually want to get.’ ”
To facilitate people getting these results, the club has a childcare center that is free with a Bally Sport Elite Sport Membership, which costs $19.99 bi-weekly.
A Bally Single Sport Membership, which grants the user access to only one club, costs $15.99 bi-weekly.”We realize that a lot of parents, the reason they don’t work out is that they don’t find the time and don’t know what to do with the kids,” Rosen said.She said the center will have attendants, toys and games for the young charges while their parents take advantage of the weights, pool, cardio equipment and studios in the club.Along the perimeter of the club are areas specifically designed for martial arts,yoga andpilates, personal training and racquetball, as well as a group exercise space that measures nearly 2,000 square feet.Rosen said on June 30 that exercise classes at the gym will be running within a week.The club also has Wi-Fi access and three dozen televisions scattered around the workout areas.The club will employ about 50 full- and part-time employees and Rosen said the company will hire locally.According to the release, Bally Total Fitness has nearly 300 fitness clubs in the United States and more than 2 million members.Prior to the opening of this facility, the two closest Bally Total Fitness clubs to Arbutus were in Catonsville and Glen Burnie.Just before 9 a.m. on opening day, only a handful of people worked out as workers swung hammers and finished working on what appeared to be the aesthetic features of the club.Halethorpe resident Joseph Mildner walked out of the club at 8:30 a.m. after completing a cardio work out.”It’s close by to work. It’s nice. I could work out and don’t have to be to work until 11 o’clock,” said Mildner, a member at Bally Total Fitness since 2008.

Health Club News….Bally Total Fitness opens spacious gym 46,000-square-foot health club

Amy Rosen and many other Bally Total Fitness employees eschewed sleep to work through the night on July 1 and put the finishing touches on a 46,000-square-foot health club scheduled to make its debut in Lansdowne Friday.At 5 a.m., 30 minutes before the club officially opened to the public, Rosen said a man knocked on the front door.Rosen, a spokeswoman for the company who lives in Chicago, said she greeted the man and congratulated him for being the first person to work out at the facility, which has been under construction for about 10 weeks.
The Bally Sport club in the Lansdowne Station shopping center on Washington Boulevard features several workout studios, a three-lane pool, a whirlpool, saunas, a child-care facility, more than 200 pieces of cardio equipment, a large weight lifting area and interactive equipment that tells the schedule of classes and can suggest workouts.”This is the first club of its kind. This is our flagship space right here,” Rosen said. “We have Bally Sport clubs that are older, but they are nothing like this.
“It’s the new generation of our Bally clubs.”Rosen estimated on the eve of the opening that nearly 1,000 people had already signed up.”The premise of this entire club was built on understanding (consumers),” Rosen said. “The thought was, ‘Let’s build it around getting people to get the results they actually want to get.’ ”
To facilitate people getting these results, the club has a childcare center that is free with a Bally Sport Elite Sport Membership, which costs $19.99 bi-weekly.
A Bally Single Sport Membership, which grants the user access to only one club, costs $15.99 bi-weekly.”We realize that a lot of parents, the reason they don’t work out is that they don’t find the time and don’t know what to do with the kids,” Rosen said.She said the center will have attendants, toys and games for the young charges while their parents take advantage of the weights, pool, cardio equipment and studios in the club.Along the perimeter of the club are areas specifically designed for martial arts,yoga andpilates, personal training and racquetball, as well as a group exercise space that measures nearly 2,000 square feet.Rosen said on June 30 that exercise classes at the gym will be running within a week.The club also has Wi-Fi access and three dozen televisions scattered around the workout areas.The club will employ about 50 full- and part-time employees and Rosen said the company will hire locally.According to the release, Bally Total Fitness has nearly 300 fitness clubs in the United States and more than 2 million members.Prior to the opening of this facility, the two closest Bally Total Fitness clubs to Arbutus were in Catonsville and Glen Burnie.Just before 9 a.m. on opening day, only a handful of people worked out as workers swung hammers and finished working on what appeared to be the aesthetic features of the club.Halethorpe resident Joseph Mildner walked out of the club at 8:30 a.m. after completing a cardio work out.”It’s close by to work. It’s nice. I could work out and don’t have to be to work until 11 o’clock,” said Mildner, a member at Bally Total Fitness since 2008.

Health Club News…..Happy 4th of July!

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.[4][5] After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:
The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more. Adams’s prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.
Historians have long disputed whether Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed. In a remarkable coincidence, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, James Monroe, the Fifth President of the United States, died on July 4, 1831. Calvin Coolidge, the Thirtieth President, was born on July 4, 1872, and thus was the only President to be born on Independence Day.

Health Club News…..Happy 4th of July!

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.[4][5] After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:
The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more. Adams’s prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.
Historians have long disputed whether Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed. In a remarkable coincidence, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, James Monroe, the Fifth President of the United States, died on July 4, 1831. Calvin Coolidge, the Thirtieth President, was born on July 4, 1872, and thus was the only President to be born on Independence Day.

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