- Life Time Fitness
Life Time Fitness, Chanhassen, MN, announced that it is slowing construction on a 180,000-square-foot club that was scheduled to open this year in Colorado Springs, CO, the Colorado Springs Gazette reports. The opening of the club has not been rescheduled. Life Time also has delayed the opening of a club in the Memphis, TN, suburb of Collierville from this spring to this fall, but clubs in Berkeley Heights, NJ, and one near the Houston suburbs of Kingwood and Atascocita, TX, were set to open as scheduled in early February. Last fall, Life Time announced it was paring expansion plans for this year from 11 clubs to six clubs around the country because of the tight credit markets and the slowing economy.
- Army Fitness Assessment Facility
On Jan. 7, the Army officially opened a new $1 million satellite facility of the Army's Physical Fitness Research Institute (APFRI). The new satellite facility at Fort Leavenworth, KS, includes seven stations for fitness assessments. In addition, participants complete an online questionnaire and receive guidance from eight staff fitness professionals. The facility will be open to soldiers and their families. The APFRI program began in 1982 to address cardiovascular disease in middle-aged officers. The program has since expanded to include wellness issues, such as nutrition, smoking cessation, stress management and a variety of fitness components. APFRI also continues to research health issues related to the over-40 population.
- Franchise 500 List
Snap Fitness topped the fitness club rankings on the 2009 list of Entrepreneur magazine's Franchise 500. The magazine also ranked fitness as one of eight franchising categories that hold the most promise for 2009. Entrepreneur editors noted that niche fitness centers would be the ones to watch in the coming year. “Health and wellness have been a top concern ever since headlines warning of obesity took over the nation,” writes Entrepreneur. “But it's not the heavyweights, like Curves and Gold's Gym, that have captured our attention. Instead, we predict the more niche concepts like boxing and prenatal and postnatal fitness will experience the healthiest growth in 2009.” Visit www.fitnessbusinesspro.com for a list of other fitness franchises that made Entrepreneur's list.
- 24 Hour Fitness
24 Hour Fitness renewed its partnership with “The Biggest Loser,” which premiered its seventh season last month. For the third season in a row, 24 Hour will send personal trainers on home visits with eliminated contestants to help them continue to meet their fitness goals. 24 Hour has also provided contestants with their own in-home exercise tools, including mats, stability balls and conditioning bands.
- Greenbrier Valley YMCA
The Greenbrier Valley YMCA has filed an injunction along with Greenbrier County (WV) residents and a physical therapy business to halt the building of a swimming pool facility, according to the Beckley (WV) Register-Herald. A tentative agreement was signed by the Greenbrier County Commission to build and manage a multimillion-dollar junior Olympic-size swimming pool facility on land owned by Kevin Workman, owner of Greenbrier Valley Physical Therapy, the newspaper reports. The projected cost, according to the contract, is between$4 million and $5 million.