Planet Fitness Replacing 3 World Gyms

By BILL RADFORD THE GAZETTE

Most World Gym members in Colorado Springs will find themselves Planet Fitness members starting Monday.

New Hampshire-based Planet Fitness, known for low membership rates and its newcomerfriendly “Judgment Free Zone,” bought the World Gym chain last fall. Though World Gym operates as a separate division, franchises have the opportunity to convert to Planet Fitness. And that’s what three of the four World Gym locations in the Springs are doing.

“We’ll be doing a pretty dramatic change on Sunday night,” said Tony Jarrell, district manager for World Gym. “We’re bringing in new equipment. Within 30 to 45 days, we’ll have tanning, massage chairs, all that.”

The change affects locations at Austin Bluffs Parkway, Eighth Street and Centennial Boulevard, Jarrell said. The downtown World Gym on Cascade Avenue isn’t switching, he said.

Planet Fitness has about 170 clubs nationwide, plus an additional 325 locations or so through World Gym, said Bill Mulleady, director of franchise development for Planet Fitness. About 50 World Gyms have converted to Planet Fitness since franchise operations began 31/ 2 years ago, many before the purchase of World Gym.

Typically, Mulleady said, such a conversion is low-key. “It’s a very aggressive market,” he said, and if competitors knew Planet Fitness was coming, they might temporarily lower prices or work to lock in longtime memberships.

Some World Gym members who heard about the change via the rumor mill, though, are unhappy about the secrecy that has surrounded it.

“We haven’t formally been told anything, which is an issue itself,” said Deb Reehoorn, who works out regularly at the 8th Street World Gym.

Some employees said they’ve been kept in the dark.

“Management has told us absolutely zero about what’s going on,” said Rodney Valdez, who teaches yoga classes at two World Gym locations.

Planet Fitness memberships begin as low as $10 a month, with no contract or long-term commitment. But the no-frills approach also means the loss of group exercise classes and daycare. Both will be phased out, Jarrell said, but he didn’t offer a timetable.

Only a small percentage of members typically use either, Mulleady said, so filling an area used for classes or daycare with exercise equipment is a more efficient use of space. Most Planet Fitness clubs, he said, have 100 to 120 pieces of cardiovascular equipment and are open 24 hours a day.

Group exercise instructors at World Gym shouldn’t assume they’re out of a job. “We still need staff,” he said, noting that free fitness instruction is included with memberships.

The loss of group instruction is a blow to Reehoorn, who goes to World Gym five or six days a week for classes.

“I know all the women that I take classes with are all leaving the gym. It’s a shame. It’s a part of our daily routine and our lives.”

Mulleady said World Gym memberships will convert to Planet Fitness memberships at the lower rates. But he knows not all will want to stay.

If you’re the mom who drops off her child at daycare at 9 a.m., takes the group Pilates class and leaves afterward, “we realize we may not be the right club for you any longer,” he said. Members directly affected by the changes who don’t want to stay will be let out of their contracts.

“I don’t expect to cancel more than a hundred memberships at each location,” Mulleady said. Those who leave may include the hard-core bodybuilders. Planet Fitness is known for its no-grunting policy, and its free-weights areas are its smallest areas, with dumbbells typically limited to 60 pounds in new clubs.

“They’re getting rid of basically all the heavy lifters,” Valdez said. “All the muscleheads that are currently members, they’re all talking about going to Flex or they’re going to Gold’s Gym or they’re going to Bally’s.”

Eighty percent of new Planet Fitness members are firsttime gym users, Mulleady said. They want a clean, non-intimidating atmosphere, he said, minus “the whole macho deal.”

“We cater to the everyday person who’s just trying to work out, shape up, tone up.” NO-FRILLS FITNESS

Planet Fitness memberships begin as low as $10 a month, with no contract or long-term commitment. But the no-frills approach also means the loss of group exercise classes and day care.

(c) 2007 Gazette, The; Colorado Springs, Colo.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.