Life Fitness' Parent Expands
Franklin Park, Ill. — Brunswick Corp., Life Fitness's parent company, has expanded its family. Brunswick recently acquired Omni Fitness (Stamford, Conn.), Life Fitness's largest retail dealer, with 60 stores across the United States. This transaction follows the partnership agreement made in 1999 in which Life Fitness took a minority position in Omni as part of a strategy to expand distribution.
“The dealer channel remains strategically important to our success in the commercial and consumer segments,” said Kevin Grodzki, president of Life Fitness, in a company statement. “This acquisition affords us the opportunity to gain additional knowledge of the operations and management of a commercial and retail business, ultimately broadening our understanding of the needs and wishes of our customers, and improving their buying experience. This will assist us in developing and marketing products and services that will help our customers meet their fitness and wellness goals.”
The Omni Fitness company will be run as a completely separate business, with a dedicated management team responsible for handling day-to-day operations. A board of directors including representatives from Brunswick, Life Fitness and the Omni Fitness management team will guide the strategic direction of the enterprise. Tom Stark, former Omni Fitness CEO, will serve in a consultative role, while Kimberly Bors of Brunswick will serve as acting general manager until Stark's replacement is named.
Omni will be operated as an independent dealer of Life Fitness products and other complementary equipment and accessories, continuing to provide the products and services it has always provided. No plans have been made to change the inventory or the names of the stores, and Omni will be treated the same as when it was an independent dealer of Life Fitness and the same as all of Life Fitness's partner dealers.
“Brunswick and Life Fitness are very commmitted to the strategic, long-term success of our dealer network and will continue to support all our dealers,” said Grodzki. “At this point, there are no plans to purchase any other dealers or to sever any relationships. We will continue to conduct business with all our dealers as we have in the past. Based on the structure of the dealer agreements, there is no territorial overlap between Omni Fitness and our other dealers, so we will continue to support all of them.”
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