[Editor's Note: This story has been updated with comments from Geoff Dyer, principal at CR Fitness Holdings, and Augie Nieto, former CEO of Life Fitness, co-founder of Augie's Quest to Cure ALS and chairman of ALS Therapy Development Institute.]
Ray Wilson, who owned multiple club brands and helped popularize the Life Cycle in the 1980s, died on Aug. 22, according to one of his sons.
Club Industry confirmed his passing through multiple friends who have been made aware that he died in his sleep at his home in Mexico.
Wilson is survived by his children Packy Wilson, Randi Wilson, Everett Wilson, Rhonda Yarro, Sue McKinley and Ray Wilson Jr., according to an article in Club Insider. His son Perry preceded him in death.
Wilson owned and operated club chains that included American Health Studios, European Heath Spas and President’s Health Clubs.
Perhaps his best-known chain was Family Fitness Centers, which he founded in 1977 in La Mesa, California, as a test site for the Life Cycle, he told Club Industry back in 2008.
Lifecycles were computerized bikes that told people how fast they were going and how far they had gone — a novel idea at the time. Also novel was a focus on cardio fitness at a time when most health clubs focused on strength training and attracted men. The focus on cardio, and the Lifecycles, helped Wilson attract female members.
In the 1970s, Wilson owned the North American rights to the Lifecycle, which was created in 1968 by Dr. Keene Dimick. In the 1970s, Augie Nieto partnered with Wilson to distribute the Lifecycle, and in 1979, the two created Lifecycle Inc.
Nieto went on to become CEO of Life Fitness. Today, he is co-founder of Augie's Quest to Cure ALS and chairman of the ALS Therapy Development Institute. In an email to Club Industry, Nieto wrote: "Ray Wilson was a fitness industry legend. I was proud to work with him in the early days of Lifecycle, and learned so much from him. Ray was a true entrepreneur who was passionate about our beloved fitness industry. He will be missed."
Mark Mastrov, owner of New Evolution Ventures, also knew Wilson. In 1995 when Mastrov was CEO of 24 Hour Nautilus (later 24 Hour Fitness), he purchased the 68 clubs that made up the Ray Wilson Family Fitness Center chain.
“It’s a sad day to lose one of the industry’s greatest legends,” Mastrov shared with Club Industry in an email. “He lived a full and fruitful 94 years. Ray lived his life with a passion and intensity like no person I’ve ever met. Easily the greatest serial entrepreneur this industry has ever seen having started so many successful platforms culminating with the tremendous family fitness and 24 Hour Fitness platforms. There’s only one Ray Wilson, and there will never be another like him. He will be missed greatly.”
Mastrov spoke at the Crunch Fitness convention earlier in August and mentioned Wilson in his presentation. Geoff Dyer, principal at CR Fitness Holdings LLC (a Crunch Fitness franchise group), was at the convention and knew Wilson starting when Dyer was operating his Lifestyle Family Fitness clubs in the Tampa, Florida, market.
At that time, Dyer had heard many stories about Wilson, which included that Wilson had developed more millionaires in the health club business than anyone else.
“That got my attention,” Dyer shared with Club Industry in an email. “He had also opened more than 600 clubs among 12 different companies at that time.”
When Wilson’s son Perry moved to the Tampa area to open five clubs for the company, Dyer was concerned about the future of his small brand.
“I immediately called Ray to introduce myself and suggest we work together,” Dyer said. “He laughed when I called and told his wife Sonja, ‘Honey, I've got the competition on the phone and we’re not open in Tampa yet.’”
Wilson and Dyer connected later in person, and Wilson agreed to let Dyer’s company manage his billing, payroll and all other home office functions for a reasonable fee.
“Learning how Ray did business allowed my company to move away from two- and three-year contracts and over to month-to-month memberships, which was a game changer for me,” Dyer said. “My company exploded using the caption Commit to a Lifestyle not a Contract.”
Dyer’s company later bought Wilson's Florida clubs as well as his clubs in Ohio that had been run by Wilson’s son Packy.
“Passionate, competitive, focused and driven are just a few words that come to mind that describe Ray,” Dyer said.
Wilson was one of the first club owners to move from long-term memberships (lifetime memberships in some cases) to month-to-month dues memberships and initiation fees. Because his facilities were family oriented, he also offered child care.
“He survived all of the challenges our industry had faced these past 70 years where he was an active leader,” Dyer said.
He added: “I was fortunate to see Ray celebrate his 92nd birthday two years ago in Mexico. He will be missed.”
Club Industry will update this story with details about a funeral or memorial once an obituary is posted.