Health Club Management January 09

international
in brief... pure continues polish roll-out
Escape Fitness is working with Pure City shopping mall in Warsaw. It aims to
holmes place vs obesity Health & Fitness as the company rolls open three to fi ve sites in 2009, and up
The Holmes Place-Europolis group out its new concept in Poland. to eight clubs in 2010 across central and
in Spain has launched a new anti- Founded by James Balfour, son of Fitness eastern Europe. Its latest club opened in
obesity programme to promote First’s Mike, and Tony Cowen, former Krakow on 2 January, and a third club is
healthy lifestyle habits among operations director at Fitness First, Pure set to open in Warsaw next month.
overweight people. launched its fi rst club in July, in the Blue Facilities at the 2,000sq m Krakow
The programme offers an club include a 20m pool with, at the
impressive free package to non- poolside, a large sauna and steam room
members, provided they are of legal and a large relaxation area with 30
age and with a Body Mass Index loungers and mood-enhancing lighting.
(BMI) equal to, or above, 30. A There is also a full service gym with
total of 600 people – 50 in each of circuit training area, two group exercise
Holmes Place’s 12 clubs in Spain – studios – one for fi tness and one for
will receive free membership, an mind-body classes – plus a café and
initial personal training session and lounge area, as well as a beauty offering.
three months’ free gym access. Escape is supplying the clubs with
After those three months, the Reebok Professional kit and is working
12 people (one per club) who have Balfour and Cowen with Escape’s Steve with Pure to design its future facilities as
achieved the best results in reducing Sykes (left) and Matthew Januszek (right) the chain continues its expansion.
their BMI will be able to stay on at
no cost for the whole of 2009.
The programme started on 15
dir dances its way to 14th club
December 2008 and will run until
15 March 2009, with those taking Up & Down, a dance club in Barcelona
part all committing to the non- for more than 26 years, is set to become
negotiable condition of attending the 14th health club in the DiR chain.
the gym three times a week. DiR will invest €3m in the renovation
of the 1,300sq m site. The new gym will
holland’s optimal offering be geared towards those working in the
Fitness First has opened two new business district of the city, where the
clubs in the Netherlands – Almere, gym is situated. “It will be much more
which opened in October, and of an exclusive club than the other DiR
Breda, which opened late December. clubs,” says CEO Ramon Canela. It will
Facilities at the clubs include be geared towards personal training,
fi tness suites equipped with Life with a monthly fee of €120–€150.
Fitness, Technogym and Star Trac’s Work began in early December, with
HumanSport cable equipment. the opening scheduled for April 2009.
There are also RPM and group One fl oor of the club will be dedicated to
exercise studios and very large fi tness, with a separate fl oor for massage,
personal training areas, including spa pool, Turkish bath and changing rooms. Up & Down: Previously a dance club
Extreme Kettlebells. Optimal Life
Fitness will be running Extreme
Kettlebells instructor courses in bold expansion plans for portugal’s vivafi t
both clubs early this year.
Vivafi t, the Portuguese chain of franchising, following up leads in
200th club for mrs.sporty women’s express workout centres, Europe, South America and Asia.
Having recently passed the 200- opened six new clubs in the last two “Vivafi t is growing at full speed in
club mark, German operator months of 2008 to consolidate its Portugal, with an average of two new
Mrs.Sporty has been named the position as private fi tness sector leader. openings each month,” says CEO Pedro
country’s fastest-growing franchise Vivafi t, which launched in 2003, was Ruiz. “Our expansion programme is for
by StartingUP business magazine. the fi rst brand in Portugal to launch the 45 new centres by 2010, reaching a total
Targeting women with a 30-minute, women-only concept. The of 130 locations in Portugal, 30 in Spain,
30-minute workout and nutrition new clubs – in the Lisbon area, north and at least one master franchise.”
programme, Mrs.Sporty was and south Portugal – take the chain’s Ruiz, along with wife and business
launched in 2005 and now has total to 91, including one in Spain. partner Constance, received the
50,000 members. Growth continues The company is also developing European Club Leadership Award at
in spite of the economic downturn. plans for expansion through master the 2008 IHRSA European Congress.
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