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NEWSWIRE
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Gold's eyes a conversion campaign |
By John Craig, Editor - 04.17.2008
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PITTSBURGH - Gold's Gym International says it's launching a campaign to persuade owners of independent gyms to convert their facilities to Gold's.
"We want to talk to people who are operating one or two gyms - or four or five - about the benefits and value of being in the Gold's Gym family," Keith Albright, the company's senior vice president in charge of franchising, said this week.
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Albright said the new approach could address the slowdown Gold's has experienced in new-club openings.
"Like everybody else, we're being affected by the softness in the economy," he said.
He said conversions "might be the fastest way" for Gold's to return to the Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee markets that were lost in January when longtime franchisee Royce Pulliam bolted Gold's to launch his own chain, Urban Active.
Albright said he would release details of the plan to his regional field managers this week and seek their input.
"There'll be questions from club owners who'll want to know why they should pay for business they've already got," Albright said. "But I think I've got the answers to those questions. I think a lot of gyms could benefit from an affiliation with us."
Last weekend, meanwhile, Gold's celebrated its return to Pittsburgh with the opening of a 35,000-square-foot club on the site of a former downtown disco that had been vacant for years.
The new gym is part of the city's Market Square revitalization project, and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl joined franchisees Bruce Ebel and Leo Gutierrez for the April 11 grand opening.
Ebel and Gutierrez are the main partners in GG Holdings, which operates several Gold's clubs in Maryland and Virginia. Gold's had not had a club in Pittsburgh for several years. The two-level facility offers views of Heinz Field and PNC Park, the homes of the Steelers and Pirates, respectively.
GG Holdings says it plans to open more Gold's clubs in the mid-Atlantic states.
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