Franchise Talk

Gold’s plans to return

February 27th, 2008 | Author: Jack

A familiar name in the fitness center business wants to return to the Greater Cincinnati market.

Gold’s Gym International is working to re-enter the local market with a new franchising team that would be charged with opening 10 to 15 local gyms in the next few years.

“Right now, there’s a gap in our ability to take care of our Gold’s Gym customers in that region,” said Keith Albright, senior vice president of franchising for Irving, Texas-based Gold’s. “The key for us is finding the right partner.”

In November, Global Fitness Holdings Inc., the region’s former Gold’s Gym franchisee, left the iconic fitness chain to launch its own brand of gyms: Urban Active.

The Lexington-based company has 10 fitness centers in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky with other locations in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Over the next four years, the company plans to open up to 50 gyms outside of its three-state footprint, Royce Pulliam, owner and CEO of Global Fitness, has said.

At the time of Pulliam’s departure from Gold’s last year, both groups said the move was a mutual agreement.

“Royce and his crew do a great job, and they will be formidable competitors,” Albright said. “We believe that our advantage is that we have members in the region who are accustomed to Gold’s, and we intend to come back to those markets.”

Gold’s closest locations to Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky now are in Indianapolis. It has no locations in Ohio or Kentucky.

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