» Supplier Profile


Keystone Fitness team members: (L to R) Shevan Juhmi-Walters (Apprentice Tech), Jim McPherson Jr (President), Dexter Douglas (Tech.), Amir Mostaghim (GM), Paul McMenemy (Vice-President), Thomas Yeboah (QC Manager/Lead Tech.)


Keystone has also found a mar-


ket with residential home-based fit- ness clients who are looking for well- built, cost-saving alternatives to new products. “There was no competition in that


niche when we started, and there still really isn’t today,” Jim said. “There are others out there today selling used equipment, and a ton selling new, but what we do really takes specialized work and a lot of people don’t want to do that. They want to buy it and sell it, but they don’t want to put the effort into rebuilding it.” Jim also rebuilt his career when


he sold Keystone Generator in 2003. That same year, Jim sold Keystone Fitness to its largest supplier, GoodLife Fitness, Canada’s largest health club company. He stayed on to run it un- til 2009, when he left to concentrate on his family’s commercial real estate business in Cambridge. But last March, Jim bought back


the company, and recruited his good friend and former Canadian special forces soldier Paul McMenemy to help run it. “I missed the fitness business


and wanted to get back into it,” said Jim, who also retained the ser- vices of longtime general manag- er Amir Mostaghim and his roster


26 Fitness Business Canada Fall 2018


of experienced technicians. “It was good that we didn’t lose anybody in the transition, and we’ve got the team back together.” Jim and his wife Jennifer have three


children: Jillian, an 18-year-old York University student, who is interested in the family business and works there part-time; 16-year-old Jessica, busy with high school; and 13-year-old son James III, who helps out “under the table” for legos and candy to, as Jim jokes, avoid child labour laws. “I would like to see the business


continue to grow while still maintain- ing a high level of customer service,” says the 48-year-old, who keeps him- self active and fit with rock climbing, mountaineering and mountain biking. Jim is also involved in community ser- vice with his local Rotary - he’s a past president – and on the board of direc- tors of Crime Stoppers. With more than 1,000 clients and


sales exceeding $2 million annually, Jim believes there’s still plenty of room for Keystone Fitness to increase sales and expand its client base. One area they’d like to target more is schools, which typically have limited budgets. “If we can get a school 10 refur-


bished treadmills instead of three new ones, we’ve done a good job for them,” he noted.


Keystone also offers equipment


warranties because the company lim- its the brands it stocks to established ones like Life Fitness and Precor. “Because that equipment is built


well to start with, when we replace the wearable parts, we can expect it to last another 10-plus years,” added Jim. “Clients still expect quality from the big manufacturers, and we give that equipment a new life for about 60 per- cent less than new.” Jim says the best equipment hasn’t


changed much in the past decade, and that’s good for Keystone. While there may be styling and color updates, and some technological additions like built-in TVs, the basics and the me- chanics remain the same. “It hasn’t gotten any tougher to re-


pair, and parts are readily available, even for some of the oldest pieces that we used to build,” he said. “We can still service equipment that we sold 10 years ago. That’s why we stick to the same big brands. We don’t really jump on the latest, greatest new brands be- cause they may not be around in 10 years. And we want to be around be- cause Keystone Fitness is our only fo- cus.” FBC


Kathryn Korchok is a journalist whose work has appeared in major newspapers and magazines in Canada and the U.S. She specializes in health, fitness, lifestyle and business writing. Contact her at kathryn.korchok@gmail.com.


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