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In the Pink
For fitness centers and health clubs, business continues to be robust
The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), the trade organization for health-club owners, reports that the industry continues to enjoy a sustained cycle of robust growth.
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Business New Haven
5/3/1999
By: Sharon Cohen
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Nationwide, it predicts membership in fitness clubs will jump from 22.5 million to 50 million by 2010. These consumers will be even more expectant of an increasing bandwidth of needs and choices. And New Haven-area clubs are ready to oblige.
“We're constantly adding new equipment and services,” says Mark Esposito, owner of In-Shape Fitness Center, with locations in North Haven and Branford.
In fact, this continual addition of different bells and whistles is nothing new for Esposito and other health-club principals. They've all learned that service is the most important way to bring in new customers and to accommodate - and keep - those members already on board.
“Every organization in our market area offering health and fitness services is our competitor, from the YMCA to a multiple-club chain,” he adds.
In its 1998 annual report, IHRSA notes that “Clubs of all types and sizes continue to open and succeed by developing a package of services, programs, amenities and prices for particular segments of the consumer base.”
And how. There are clubs designed specifically for women, people in need of medical attention, families, young adults, the over-40 crowd and corporations, for example. There are also many clubs which target several markets.
Esposito jumped into the fitness arena in 1987 after being in the construction business. “I wanted to get involved with the growth of health and fitness,” he says, which at the time he considered “an almost untapped business.”
So he opened his first facility in North Haven providing circuit training, free weights and aerobics in “an upscale environment.” In order to attract new markets, he expanded with a more varied menu.
Both of his facilities now measure 22,000 square feet and offer whatever is hot with the members. For example, In-Shape was one of the first in the area to introduce “spinning,” a stationary bicycle journey with music on an imaginary road filled with hills and valleys. Now spinning has become a hit at other clubs as well.
However, a successful health and fitness club has to separate the wheat from the shaft. Esposito says the industry points to “the slide,” which spun off of step aerobics, as an example of something that was supposed to be big and fizzled.
Finding good help is another challenge. To provide the service clients demand, says Esposito, a center needs an experienced staff including certified fitness trainers, dietitians and administrative support. And most clubs also need staff from very early in the morning into the evening hours, as well as throughout the weekends.
Dan German, owner of Creative Health & Fitness on the Boston Post Road in Milford, says that the entire fitness industry has been given a boost with the increased interest by the U.S. government and national health organizations.
In 1994, the Office of the Surgeon General authorized the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) to serve as the lead agency for preparing the first Surgeon General's report on physical activity and health that was issued in 1996. The report's main message: Americans can substantially improve their health and quality of life by including moderate amounts of physical activity.
The report was completed with the support of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, the Office of Public Health & Science, and myriad of institutes from the National Institutes of Health. The information and marketing generated from this report has encouraged scores of people never before interested in exercising and healthy behavior to start working out, says German.
Over the years, however, German has attracted increasing numbers of people to Creative Health & Fitness without the support of this report. In 1985, after graduating from college with a degree in business and finance and working with an accounting firm, he opened an aerobics studio for women.
“I was always involved with sports and wanted to do something in the fitness area,” he recalls. “A lot of clubs were cropping up, and the industry was growing pretty strong. I thought I could make a go of it.”
And he has. A once 3,000-square-foot aerobics area and locker room has evolved into a 17,000-square-foot facility for men and women of all ages - even children.
“Kids fitness is becoming increasingly important,” German says. The Surgeon General's report, for example, concluded that nearly half of Americans between ages 12 and 21 are not vigorously active on a regular basis. Also, daily enrollment in physical education classes has declined among high-school students, from 42 percent in 1991 to 25 percent in 1995.
German offers a kids' fitness class for children three to six as well as birthday parties for youngsters. Although the eight- to 12-year-old market “is tough because of the participants' short attention span,” he plans on introducing a class for these youths in May.
Kids aren't the only ones who like change. “One of my biggest challenges is keeping people involved and motivated,” German says. “I want people to join and stay here. That means always looking for ways that are more advantageous for them.”
In many cases, members will move from one activity to another when their attention wanes. German has found that cross-selling of different programs is a good marketing tool and a way to inform people of their other options.
Thus Creative Health & Fitness offers a wide variety of services including aerobics, weight training, kick boxing, yoga, cardiovascular programs and wellness and nutrition support to accommodate these changing interests.
German is also offering different programs for seniors. “This is a very good market,” he notes. “Not only is the age group growing, but these are members who stick with our programs. And a majority of them use the facility during the day.”
IHRSA reports that the rate of membership growth is the greatest nationwide among consumers over age 55. From 1987 to 1997, club membership of this age group grew from just over one million to nearly three million.
The 35-to-54 age category comprises 8.5 million, or 38 percent, of all members, just barely surpassed by the 18-to-34 age segment with 41 percent (9.2 million in all). In fact, today, people age 35 and older account for 50 percent of all health club members.
Don McManus, general manager of the Downtown Health & Racquet Club on George Street, is also catering to seniors' needs. For more than two years, the club has offered “diamond club” classes, which increase flexibility and strength. These sessions have attracted the interest of older members ranging in age from 55 to 86.
Downtown Health & Racquet Club opened at its present location 20 years ago. It started out with 20 racquetball courts, when that sport was all the rage. For a time it even was a stop on the professional tour for TV coverage.
In the mid- to late 1980s, the club began adding other services such as free weights, cardiovascular machines, aerobics, group cycling classes, nutritional analysis and massage therapy.
A lot has changed since the club first opened, says McManus. “Back then, it was the only such facility around us. Now there are ten in our market area, a 15-mile radius.”
In fact, according to IHRSA, Connecticut had 260 health clubs in 1997, a number that hasn't fluctuated much since 1992 when there were 336.
McManus agrees that when it comes to members' desires, variety is indeed the spice of life. “You have to constantly provide new equipment and services to keep things fresh and exciting. They get bored like anyone else would if things aren't changed.”
Rock climbing is certainly one way to alleviate workout burnout. In 1993, Stephen Messina opened Prime Climb in Wallingford. The facility offers people the opportunity to scale tall mountains indoors.
“We typically get rock climbers who want to train during the winter months,” explains Messina. “But there are also many new people coming - normally about age 18 to 45 - just for the fun of it all year round. Some come to us from time to time (there is a day fee of $12) to break away from the gym routine,” says Messina.
Rock climbing is also an up-and-coming sport for kids, he adds. Schools use Prime Climb for exercises in team- and esteem-building as well as character development.
Born and raised in Meriden, Messina spent much of his childhood days exploring the state's foothills. He opened Prime Climb a year after being graduated with a business degree from college because of his growing interest in climbing and the dearth of a suitable indoor climbing facility in Connecticut.
The Stratford Athletic Club calls itself the “club of choices.” Since Bob Maraczi first opened the doors of a racquetball facility in 1978, the place has exponentially increased in size and offerings.
In addition to the racquetball courts, aerobics and cardio and strength-training facilities, the SAC can boast of a swimming pool, indoor track, saunas, steam rooms and whirlpools. There's also child care, so parents can enjoy all these offerings.
“The trend is that many of our members once were children in our nursery,” says Maraczi.
These young adults join millions of other like-minded individuals across the country who have grown up with an understanding of the importance of fitness.
“It's become a way of life for them,” explains Maraczi. “Their parents may have said, 'If I have time, I will exercise.' But now this next generation is saying, 'I do this to add to the quality of my life. I'll make time for it.'”
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