|News & Know How| News A Budget Brand isBorn in Boston M
ark Harrington, Sr., the owner of the five upscale Healthworks Fitness Centers for Women in the Greater Boston area, has launched GymIt, a new budget-club concept, with his sons, Matt and Mark, Jr.
The premier unit, located near Boston University, is designed to appeal to the
large number of young professionals who live in the area on a budget and may not want to sign a long-term contract. The club, the company’s first coed offering, is an 18,000-square-foot facility. It occupies the site of a full-service Healthworks that’s been relocated to the Coolidge Corner section of Brookline, Massachusetts, which has more families. Unlike Healthworks, where dues start at $86 per month, GymIt memberships
start at $19 a month, with a $39 enrollment fee. For $27 a month and a $49 enrollment fee, members can bring a visitor whenever they like. All memberships >
| CBI’s Eye on the Economy | Attend to the Trend:Dues Down, Nondues Up
>The pricing trend that has, with slight exception, prevailed since the beginning of the year continued into May and June. For those two months, club dues once more fell; fees for lessons and instruction once more increased; and fees for all items once more increased faster than those for club services. Specifically, club dues dropped by 1.67% in May and 1.13% in
June; and fees for club services rose 1.40% in May and 1.73% in June. Fees for all items were 3.57% higher in May than in May 2010, and 3.56% higher in June than in June 2010. Given the ongoing shift, clubs may be well advised to focus
even more on the cost of ancillary services. This could, conceiv- ably, allow them to maintain, or enhance, their bottom line,
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
despite the downward pressure on dues. However, increases for nondues items shouldn’t be taken lightly: upward adjustments must be justified by an increase in the value of the service. Some examples: Upgrade your group exercise or personal
training offerings by introducing new equipment (e.g., suspen- sion training systems). Subsidize advanced training for your instructors, enhancing their skills. Provide members who are shedding pounds with a weight-loss-tracker application for their mobile phone, making it easier for them to track their progress. —|
For more detailed monthly information and additional Producer Price Indexes, please log on to
www.ihrsa.org/research.
Consumer Prices & National Economic Trends (% change same month previous year)
From l., Mark Sr., Matt, Mark Jr., Harrington
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Club Dues (NSA*) Fees for Lessons (NSA) All Items (NSA)
Note: NSA: Not Seasonally Adjusted 22 Club Business Internat ional | SEPTEMBER 2011 | www.
ihrsa.org
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