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Nashville, Tenn., Company Plans to Open Gyms Around the State

Posted on: Monday, 16 May 2005, 21:01 CDT

May 17--A Nashville company has bought a Hixson gym and plans to open an East Brainerd location soon as part of a statewide expansion.

Fitness Express LLC is the new owner of World Gym at 3903 Hixson Pike, said Manny Butera, managing partner of Fitness Express. He said he hopes to open a second gym in about two months on either East Brainerd or Gunbarrel roads.

"It's a full-fitness facility that's been here for 14 years," said Joanne Shatlock, former owner of the Hixson gym. "It's gratifying to me the (facility) is still World Gym.

The Hixson gym will close for renovations later this month and reopen in early June. Total Fitness is spending $731,000 for new exercise machines and $250,000 for building renovations, Mr. Butera said. The new machines will include tanning beds, spin bikes, cardio equipment and free weights.

Fitness Express is on track to become one of the largest gym chains in the United States, Mr. Butera said. In 36 months, it will have opened or bought 25 World Gyms in Tennessee. A related company, Total Fitness Systems LLC, is a management company for World Gym International Inc., operating 60 fitness centers in 17 states.

Mrs. Shatlock said she will be retiring, but will continue to work out at World Gym when it reopens in June. She said she bought the gym five years ago after enjoying her sessions as a client.

"It's an energetic atmosphere," Mrs. Shatlock said. "People think of gyms as being full of muscle-bound people. It's not. It's family-oriented. Everybody knows everybody else."

World Gym will provide child care when it reopens in June, she said.

Mr. Butera said World Gym will be the only 24-hour gym in Chattanooga.

It is bringing an experienced World Gym manager from out of town, but will hire locally when it expands the 12-person staff to nearly 50 workers, he said. Its 30 personal trainers will host weight-loss challenges for companies.

World Gym will give a discounted fee of $9.99 a month to people transferring their memberships from other gyms, Mr. Butera said. Its normal fee is from $19 to $39 a month.

Another local fitness complex, the Sports Barn, isn't concerned about the increased competition, said Don Bowman, sales and marketing director. The two facilities target different niches, he said.

"We're more medical-based," he said. "We're about preventative care and rehabbing patients. Plus, basic fun fitness. We're not just a gym."

The Sports Barn has activities ranging from racquetball to volleyball to group fitness training programs, Mr. Bowman said. The Sports Barn has registered dietitians, and the staff are either medically educated or have training in exercise science, plus must have national certification, he said.

The Sports Barn is open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., Mr. Bowman said. It has centers in downtown, Hixson and East Brainerd.

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Source: Chattanooga Times/Free Press

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