Club Insider

The Club Insider Archives: April 2009

Phil Wendel and ACAC in a Top 5% Category
An Interview With Club Industry Leader Phil Wendel

By: Norm Cates

Norm CatesNorm CatesI don't know many people who have hit a business home run in two different industries, but Phil Wendel has. Read this story and find your passport to a much more financially successful club. Read this story and learn how to get new membership referrals by the bucketful from doctors in your community. Read More

Rick Caro's 13th Annual IHRSA Financial Panel
By: Justin Cates

Justin CatesJustin CatesIt is needless to say that the financial tumult we have seen in the past year has created worry in the minds of many across this country and the world. The result has been decreased spending, increased layoffs and a fear that our current recession becomes a depression. Ironically, less spending, increased savings and future planning are all good things, but right now, they are contributing to the overall financial situation we are experiencing. Read More

Why You Should Support IHRSA's Public Policy Efforts
By: Norm Cates

Norm CatesNorm CatesFolks, regardless of whether you're an IHRSA Member club owner/operator or not, you should be aware of and should support the work IHRSA does on behalf of the entire industry, including you. IHRSA's Public Policy effort has been active for 18 years under the leadership of IHRSA's Helen Durkin, Director of Public Policy. This is important stuff folks, on both the Federal and State levels. Read More

The "Insider Speaks"
Are We Remarkable?

By: Justin Cates

Justin CatesJustin CatesImagine you are driving down a country road on the way to somewhere. You pass a field with a number of cows. Would you stop to take a look? I imagine the answer is no because once you have seen a cow, you have seen every cow. Read More

Get Your A.S.S. in Gear!!!
By: Ray Gordon

Ray GordonRay GordonAccepted Success Solutions (A.S.S.) are things that you do for your members which dramatically increase their chances of change and success. At the recent IHRSA Convention in San Francisco, I encountered numerous club owners who were reducing their dues to compete with the large number of low-priced clubs that are coming into their market area. While that may be the correct direction for some, it won't be a feasible option for most monthly dues-based clubs in America. Read More

Analyze and Adjust
By: Karen Woodard-Chavez

Karen Woodard-ChavezKaren Woodard-ChavezAs we progress into the 2nd quarter of the year, how did your facility leave the 1st quarter? For some of you, the results were right on track. Perhaps for others, the results were off the track --just a bit for some, and for others, waaaaayyyyyy off. Read More

Knowing When to Fold
By: Will Phillips

Will PhillipsWill PhillipsWe have all heard the phrase that rising tides lift all boats, thus a rising economy lifts all clubs. This lift enabled clubs that were poorly managed and had poor business models to succeed. The broad scale successes across the fitness industry invited competitors, large and small, along with many new franchisees with different concepts appealing to different segments of your market. Read More

How to Double Your Dues in a Down Economy
By: Donna Krech

Donna KrechDonna Krech"So," you wonder to yourself, "What's this one all about? How to Double My Dues???" Well, my friend, I'm glad you're wondering, for curiosity is the beginning of change. And, change is how we get from where we are to where we want to be! Read More

The Paradox of Wellness
By: Shawn Vint

Shawn VintShawn VintOne would think that with the mountain of evidence clearly showing the benefits of a consistent exercise regimen and good nutrition, fitness clubs wouldn't have to 'sell' their product. Ironically, maybe frustratingly, despite that knowledge, society as a whole has not yet embraced the notion as we had hoped. Facilities, filled with the latest equipment and the newest programs, are facing declining enrollment. Read More

Health and Fitness Facility Certification - What's the Real Story?
Stephen Tharrett, CEO, Russian Fitness Group and President, Club Industry Consulting

By: Stephen Tharrett

Stephen TharrettStephen TharrettOver the past several months, health and fitness club operators have been introduced to a new and exciting initiative that is being facilitated by NSF International (NSF). This initiative involves the development of standards --collectively, a process that has been designed to lead to a voluntary health and fitness facility certification process. Regrettably, most of the information concerning this NSF-facilitated effort that is currently being disseminated to the industry has come from a single source, IHRSA. Read More

Do You Lead a Tribe?
By: Jeffrey Keller

Jeffrey KellerJeffrey KellerLast month's article was meant to inspire leadership, and hopefully it did. But, for all the inspiration that was gleaned from that article, it won't make a dent in the armor of employee apathy without a framework to use it in. Hopefully, this month's article will help provide that framework. Read More

A Bronx Tale
$300,000 in EFT

BRONX, N.Y. - The Planet Fitness franchise on 225th Street in the Bronx achieved a milestone in March --$300,000 in monthly EFT, a first for the New Hampshire-based health club operator. To celebrate, club owners, Jeff and James Innocenti and Gino LaVerghetta, threw a surprise party for the gym's tireless manager, Al Grier, handing him the keys to a brand-new Suzuki motorcycle. Read More

IHRSA 2009 A Real Success Despite Current World Economy
BOSTON, MA - The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) today announced the conclusion of the association's 28th Annual International Convention & Trade Show, where attendees from more than 70 countries gathered in San Francisco from March 16-19. "What stood out loud and clear last week was the commitment of the global health club industry to lead both on the economy and in their communities," said Joe Moore, IHRSA's President and CEO. Read More

2008 U.S. Health Club Revenues Total $19.1 billion, up 3%
BOSTON, MA - The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) announced today that industry revenues reached $19.1 billion in 2008, an increase of three percent over 2007. IHRSA reports that the number of health clubs increased by one percent in 2008, totaling 30,022 facilities in the United States. Additionally, the results of IHRSA's annual health club membership survey indicate that health club memberships in the Unites States totaled 45.5 million in 2008. Read More

IHRSA 2009 Slideshow
Check out photos from IHRSA 2009! Read More

Norm's Notes for April 2009
By: Norm Cates

Norm CatesNorm CatesHello Everybody and Happy Spring! This is your friendly Club Insider Tribal Leader and Publisher Since 1993 checking in! Is America a great country or what? Stand by for a "Whopper," and I don't mean a 1,200-calorie hamburger or a big fib! Read More

Back to 2009


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