24 Hour Fitness Center is a privately owned and operated fitness center network headquartered in San Ramon, California. It is the largest fitness network in the world by membership and the third in a number of clubs behind Gold's Gym and Fitness First from the UK, operates 420 clubs in 13 states with four million clients. 24 Hour Fitness also employs a contractor company located in Jamaica. The company was founded by Mark S. Mastrov and owned by AEA Investors. 24 Hour Fitness operates a nutritional supplement company, Apex Fitness Group, which is also a distributor of Bodybugg systems. Their motto is "Improve life through fitness."
Video 24 Hour Fitness
History
Initial history and founding
24 Hour Fitness was founded in 1983 by Mark Mastrov. Mastrov has used a local gym for rehabilitation after a knee injury and turned the gym into a nautilus facility 24 hours after buying out the owner. The company was originally named "24 Hours Nautilus."
Mark Golob and Dean Moloney were contracted early in the company's history to work on marketing. They created promotional campaigns with Pamela Anderson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Mike Tyson that increased membership and sales. The company incorporates 24 Hour Nautilus, 24 Hour Family Fitness Centers, and Gold's Gyms of Hawaii under the 24 Hour Fitness brand name in 1996.
2004-2008: Other Olympics and sponsorships
In 2004, 24 Hour Fitness sponsored the 2004-2008 US Olympic team. The sponsors provide membership to several US Olympic candidates and include upgrades to several US Olympic Training Centers nationwide, including a renovation of facilities in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2004 to be followed by Lake Placid, New York and Chula Vista, California.
24 Hour Fitness is working with NBC to develop a reality show, The Biggest Loser, featuring 12 to 22 competing contest participants competing to lose weight over several million dollars. The first show aired in late 2004.
From 2005 to 2008, 24 Hour Fitness sponsored the Pro Discovery Channel Pro Pro cycling team.
2009 to present: Acquisitions and other operations
The 24 Hour Fitness previously had about 15 clubs in Singapore and China. Besides the United States, he has centers in Singapore and Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai in China) through a wholly owned subsidiary of California Fitness (CalFit). European clubs closed in the early 2000s. CalFit has been sold to Hong Kong companies in 2012, providing continuity and retention of names and membership with no bad closing experience from CalWowX, which becomes an exclusive US sport chain.
Former affiliates and spinoff California Wow Xperience (CalWowX), California Fitness branch, previously had a 24-hour membership exchange agreement, then only California fitness, and culminated in a gym located in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Pattaya in Thailand, including a special club woman. It is also listed on the stock exchange with major Thai company partners. CalWowX and former CalFit centers in Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan (10/01/2010) have been closed or have been sold, with the franchise of CalWowX franchises in Korea being abruptly closed to members who are contracted without reimbursement. Similarly, CalWowX Thailand is charged with criminal embezzlement by a local investment bank before suddenly closing with millions of dollars in debt and angry customers leaving empty hands who have signed up for lifetime membership.
In August 2012, 24 Hour Fitness owners placed the 416 location gym chain on the auction block with a reported price tag approaching $ 2 billion. After being approached by various interests for over six months, finally in January 2012, the board of directors took 24 Hours Fitness outside the market. Offer reportedly fell far short of the asking price.
In May 2014, Forstmann Little & amp; Co reportedly sold 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide Inc. to a group of investors worth $ 1.85 billion to an investment group led by AEA Investors LP and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan.
Maps 24 Hour Fitness
Operation
By 2017, 24 Hour Fitness has over 4 million members and over 420 clubs in 18 states, with over 22,000 employees. Its main competitors in the US are Anytime Fitness, Gold's Gym, Aspen Fitness, and LA Fitness.
The company also has a co-branded center along with celebrities like Lance Armstrong and Jackie Chan.
Criticism
On July 31, 2007, 24 Hours Fitness completed a class action suit filed against him by the current and former 1.8 million members. The plaintiffs claim damages for the continued withdrawal by 24 Hour Fitness shortly after their monthly membership is canceled on request. In McCardle vs. 24 Hours Fitness USA, Inc. , the Alameda County Court ruled in favor of a class action lawsuit plaintiff. In 2010, the court found that 24 Hour Fitness did not act in good faith after refusing members who purchased "All Clubs" membership access to a rebranding location without incur additional charges not disclosed in the original contract.
Six former 24 Hour Fitness employees filed a separate class action lawsuit on July 13, 2010. The lawsuit was brought to the State of California on the allegation that 24 Hour Fitness was discriminated on the basis of race and gender in their promotional practices. Plaintiffs are women, minorities, or both.
On March 2, 2013, 805 complaints were registered against 24 Hour Fitness with Better Business Bureau in the previous three years, 276 in the previous 12 months. 24 Hour Fitness has a rating of A with private non-government organizations.
References
External links
- Official Site
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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