Five Accomplished Industry Players Reflect on 2005's Prospects
If, as we embark on the new year, you'd like to take a peek into a crystal ball or consult with a fortune teller-there's really no need. The future proceeds inevitably from the past, and what happened in 2004 serves as a reliable preview-glitches notwithstanding-of what will probably transpire in 2005. The industry's foundation will hold fast. The trends that have emerged recently will gain strength, grow in sophistication, and produce intriguing new offspring. Talk to 1,000 industry leaders, and their collective wisdom and '04 experiences seem to produce a strong consensus: The industry will remain strong and continue to grow, possibly at an accelerated pace.
Everything about it-from facilities, to equipment, to programs, to employee qualifications, to government relations, to inter-industry affiliations-will become more professional and, in most cases, productive. The importance and monumental promise of the aging baby-boomer and general deconditioned markets, compounded by rampant obesity, will force clubs to rethink their role, prompting a reshaping, possibly profound, of the entire industry. As you read the reflections, thoughts, observations, and recommendations of the five accomplished industry players that CBI spoke to, think of them not as remarkable predictions, but rather as critical reminders of what you've already experienced, of what, at some level, you already know.
Denise Austin, star of Lifetime Television's Denise Austin's Daily Workout and Denise Austin's Fit and Lite
Trending Fast and Simple
I travel a lot and, during the past year, I've noticed a dramatic surge of interest in exercise options that offer either simplicity and/or time-efficient workouts. Stability fitness balls, for example, have become incredibly popular for both home and club use. They provide great exercise, for the arms, legs, and abs, and they're easy to use-people just get on them and, immediately, feel their core muscles working. Another major, transforming, trend is the express workout. It's a great thing-I'm a wife and mother, and work full-time, so I can certainly appreciate the value of a short-and-sweet exercise session.
Quick in-and-out workouts will continue to increase in popularity. As club members demand more sophisticated training, but have less time in which to pursue it, we'll see the development of classes that are even speedier and more specialized. Expect to see faster circuit training, including aspects of cardio, strength, and flexibility training, especially yoga and Pilates. My television shows reach some 1 million viewers, and they're constantly telling me what they want to see, the types of exercises they want me to deliver-today, they're all demanding the express workout.
Phil Wendel, a principal at Legacy Management, which owns two Atlantic Coast Athletic Clubs (ACAC) in Charlottesville, Virginia, and West Chester, Pennsylvania, and is a partial owner of the Maryland Athletic Club in Timonium, Maryland
Mining Major New Markets
Like many clubs, we've long recognized the need to attract new population segments in order to maintain growth. We've already done so, with rewarding results, with the family market, and are now extending our reach even further by affiliating with the medical community.
Though ACAC has been in Charlottesville for 20 years, our 64,000-square-foot flagship facility there opened just six years ago. Membership growth was rapid for the first three years, but, during the next two years, slowed to around 3 percent. In order to continue growing, we had to reach out to families. We did so, successfully, in a number of ways.
At our outdoor complex, we built a spray garden for toddlers, and a slide pool with a beach entry. We doubled the size of our childcare area, adding options for each age group. We connected our after-school programs to the schools' transportation systems, increasing kids' access to recreation opportunities and study space. These changes, along with a strong investment in family programming, pushed our membership growth back into the gratifying double-digit range last year.
Another trend that we've been watching closely, and have begun to capitalize on, is the natural tendency for fitness and medical providers to work together, cooperatively, in a variety of ways. Clubs are moving into the physical therapy market, and modern medicine has begun to embrace disease prevention.
Last spring, we introduced a 60-60 physician referral program. The referred patient pays $60 for a 60-day trial membership, and receives hands-on care from a team of three exercise physiologists. The program has produced 30 referrals (member prospects) per month, and a 45
urn rate, and we expect twice as many referrals this year. During the summer, we opened an on-site physical therapy clinic in a 50/50 partnership with a local hospital; after 90 days, it was generating monthly sales in excess of $100,000. And, this year, a local primary-care physician group will join us, facilitating such fee-based programs as on-site cholesterol and stress testing, special clinics (e.g., midlife care, sports medicine, etc.), DEXA bone density screenings, and member health evaluations.
Appealing to the uninitiated market has always been one of this industry's principal goals-after all, this market is four times larger than our current base of active exercisers. The challenge to do so offers a bonus for all of us: the exciting experience of sharing something great with those who stand to gain the most from it.
Harvey Lauer, founder and president, American Sports Data, Inc. (ASD)
The Democratization of Fitness
We're continuing to see a movement toward easier, less taxing, and more convenient forms of exercise-for older people, for the deconditioned of all ages, and even for children. While some in these legions of neophytes are being drawn from the ranks of existing fitness participants, most are streaming in from a massive pool of those whom we call 'Uninitiated Believers.' They may have experienced little in the way of organized fitness, but they're ready to take the plunge. This epic trend, now in an embryonic form, has the potential to transform American lifestyles and the U.S. economy on a scale unseen since the introduction of Henry Ford's Model T.
That parallel is not hype. Consider this: 90 years ago, Henry Ford introduced mass production and delivered the automobile to the masses, transforming the auto industry, and eventually, the world. Today, in a different industry, and for very different reasons, we're experiencing a similar phenomenon: The democratization of physical fitness.
The automobile, originally a plaything of the idle rich, was available to only a privileged few. Like the auto, physical fitness, until recently, was the exclusive province of a different elite-those inhabiting a rarefied atmosphere breathed only by hardbodies, muscleheads, and assorted cardio fanatics. In 2004, the revolutionary trend toward less strenuous, nonthreatening exercise began to transform fitness into a mass phenomenon, making it available to everyone.
