Gold’s Gym Works to Finesse Its Business Image

By Alison Trinidad, The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville

Jun. 25–In a market flush with competitors, Gold’s Gym is working hard to swap the musclehead image on which its brand was built for one that’s more flab friendly.

It makes business sense because the average Joes of the world easily outnumber body builders, right?

“Getting people through the front door is the hardest thing,” said Lee Kaplan, chief executive of the Gold’s Gym franchise in Northeast Florida. “It’s intimidating.”

Kaplan and his brother, Jay, are doing their part to tap into the fitness-for-everybody mentality. They’ve added women-only workout areas, tanning booths, kids clubs, public art galleries and free wireless Internet access between their two gyms in Jacksonville. And they have plans to open a third location by the first quarter of 2008.

“The demographics and the markets have changed. We’re trying to lift our business to the next level. Location and customer service — that’s what the fitness business is,” Lee Kaplan said.

To be sure, the Kaplans’ typical client is more likely to be a granny urbanite or student suburbanite than the burly Lou and Ahh-nold types of Pumping Iron repute.

But they get those, too.

“Clubs — are more of a gathering area,” said Jay Kaplan, chief operating officer. “Of course, we still are going to get the people who are into serious fitness — that’s what our brand was built on.”

Brand recognition is important, especially in a field that includes Bailey’s Powerhouse Gym, Bally Total Fitness, Lifestyle Family Fitness and World Gym. That doesn’t take into account nonprofits like the YMCA.

More important, however, is personal attention. Lee Kaplan said the focus at Gold’s is retaining members, and not shackling them to a long-term contract.

“We do everything we can to get you to use your membership,” he said.

The Kaplans recently bought out their partner, Kris Krieger, to grow their First Coast franchise to seven locations in seven years. They did not disclose the purchase price. Krieger, whose family still owns about 15 Gold’s Gyms across the eastern seaboard, said the Kaplans presented an aggressive and promising business plan.

“I had no intention of selling anything,” Krieger said. “But it just made sense. They’re young, they’re zealous, they’re ready to go.”

Doing business as Dac Fit Inc., the Kaplans are putting in about $100,000 to update their Baymeadows location with new equipment and locker rooms. At 40,000 square feet, the gym has about 4,000 active members, the Kaplans said. Their 20,000-square-foot gym, which opened in the heart of downtown early last year, has about 1,750 members.

The Kaplans have been pounding the downtown pavement, offering special rates to businesses and nearby residential developers. They said some developers have considered eliminating fitness centers in their building plans in exchange for a partnership with Gold’s.

Gold’s is the first full-service, private franchise gym in walking distance of the urban core.

The Kaplans’ next location, slated for the Southside, is expected to be comparable to the Baymeadows gym in size. Equipping a building that size for a gym likely will cost about $1.5 million, they said.

Gold’s has about 50 employees — from finance majors to fitness experts — between the two clubs in Jacksonville.

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