HOUSTON — Westside Tennis & Fitness in Houston used to focus on tennis, but now the club has been transformed into a multi-sport, family fitness center. The change came after Linda and Mack McIngvale, co-owners, decided tennis, a small workout area and a pool just weren't enough to grow membership and revenue. They spent $3 million on renovations to make the facility more family friendly, with plans to spend an additional $1.5 million by September, Linda McIngvale says.
The renovations include converting six of the indoor tennis courts to a Kids Zone with interactive games and batting cages, turning the barely used grass tennis courts to soccer fields, and removing four tennis courts to put in a 25-meter pool and a resort-style family pool with a tube slide. The owners have expanded the fitness center to 15,000 square feet, added more group exercise classes featuring prechoreographed programs and added a wellness center with a mind-body studio. To target the 60-plus market, the renovated facility also features a Prime Life Activities Center with social activities and games.
Since first announcing the change last November, the club has grown from 1,000 memberships to 1,500 memberships, Linda McIngvale says. The goal is to reach 3,000 memberships by the end of the year.
“We need to have 100 percent increase in revenue to break even,” she says. “By the end of the day, we hope to see a 200 percent increase in revenue.”