We begin our series of interviews with Paul Wright, owner of Gold's Gym, Ann Arbor. In this installment, Paul relates what the first days of getting Gold's off the ground were like and then recounts salient features of his previous business background.
In this podcast (Quicktime ipod compatible, 16MB; Google streaming flash video), we present the first part of my (Bud's) interview with Paul Wright, owner Gold's Gym, Ann Arbor, about what it's like to start a fitness business. As I mentioned some months ago on Michigan Muscle Boy, Gold's is the most recent entry into the higher end of the Ann Arbor gym market. Nationally, Gold's has been in existence since Joe Gold founded the original gym on Venice Beach in 1965 and has had a storied history as a bodybuilding mecca.
With Gold's recent acquisition by the holding company for Omni hotels after Joe Gold's death, the chain has moved aggressively to address an upscale demographic. The move has led to facilities typically ranging from 25,000 to 40,000 square feet and an emphasis on modern weight training equipment. Additionally, the chain has put a renewed emphasis on child care and fitness classes, key concerns of the demographic it is trying to address.
In the first part of the interview which we present here, Paul lays the foundation for discussing his entry into the gym business. We learn that Gold's opened its doors 10 months ago in January, 2006, in a 3000 square foot store front adjacent to the current 17000 square foot facility. By the time they moved to the current location in June, 2006, they had 362 members. Just last week, approaching the end of October, 2006, we learn Gold's had over a thousand members, expecting 1200 to 1300 by the end of the year.
Although Paul is an avid amateur bodybuilder (an aspect of his life we do not explore in this interview), he has spent nearly all of his 20 year business career in the logistics industry, with 15 of those in marketing. His prior start-up experience was with an Internet firm logistics.com that did not make it past the first Internet bubble.
My conversation with Paul lasted a total of an hour with 23 minutes captured on video. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be presenting further out-takes from our conversation.
Additional Links
- Remarkably, Dave Tate of Elite Fitness has some perspectives on the gym business, from the point of view of a member who does not feel very appreciated.
Comments (1)
I haven't yet, but I will be watching your podcast. I love the subject of gym ownership so this is exciting to me. I started my gym experience in high school working at a gym for over a year. I've always wanted to own one. I really like Dave Tate's stuff, so that article should appeal to me as well, especially since I have totally felt underappreciated at Liberty. Incidentally, I will be joining Gold's on Wednesday. I hope to see you there some time.
Posted by Andy | October 30, 2006 8:22 PM
Posted on October 30, 2006 20:22