News & Notes

c on t i nu e d

GoGo celebrates 20th anniversary in Finland

> GoGo Liikuntakeskus in Tampere, Finland, celebrated their 20th anniversary in January with a gala dinner party for 250 longtime members, staff and suppliers. “It is great to be in this business,” commented

Päivi Aholaita-Mäenpää, owner of Go Go. “Every day, we have the opportunity to help members achieve their goals, lead healthier lifestyles and make new friends who share their commitment to fitness. “We want to thank our great staff, members

and suppliers for these first 20 years and celebrate with them as we continue to grow with their sup- port by opening our fourth club here in Tampere this April.” n

DSSV becomes IHRSA partner

> The leading German trade association for fitness clubs—Deutsche Fitness Studio Verband (DSSV)—has signed on to become a partner federation of IHRSA. Led by Birgit Schwarze, president, and Refit Kamberovic, founder, DSSV represents over 2,300 clubs in Germany. They also play a leading role in the European Fitness Club Association (EFCA), which has partners in Poland, Croatia, Serbia and Greece. “As Europe’s biggest employers

Birgit Schwarze

association, we have high expectations of this cooperation and hope that we are able to accomplish more together, develop new ideas and help the industry grow,” said Birgit Schwarze. DSSV’s annual Industry Report, which

was released in March, includes for the first time European and international perspectives supplied by IHRSA’s research department. “We look forward to working with

DSSV,” said Hans Muench, IHRSA’s Director of Europe, noting that the

DSSV’s Fitness Management International

magazine will include IHRSA reports in the future. n

Refit Kamberovic

An elegant evening: The celebration was packed with members who put aside their workout clothes and donned tuxes and gowns for the gala event

Moving secures 4-mil Euros in new capital

> France-based Moving, a club franchise company which includes more than 150 facilities, has secured funds of 4-mil Euros from the private equity firm of Development & Part- nership to help accelerate the growth of the company within France and internationally. This provides D&P with a minority holding in the com- pany; the group Hebe, held by Charles Ellia and Lionel Bourillon, continue to hold a majority stake in Moving. The 25-year old company offers

four different types of facilities, including one in the budget category: Moving, 1,000m2

multipurpose

facilities—some of which including swimming pools; Lady Moving, 200m2

women-only facilities with

30-minute express strength training circuits; Garden Gym, which offers aromatherapy in addition to fitness; and Fitness Park, which is geared to athletes. Moving is looking to establish a

flagship facility in Paris, and is con- sidering an eventual listing on the stock market. n

www.ihrsa.org n SPRING 2010 n Club Business Europe 5 Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12