Clubindustry

I just spoke with Chad Smith, executive VP of Las Vegas Athletic Club (LVAC), about the recent Nevada Equal Rights Commission’s (NERC) finding that the club’s free enrollment offer to women might be discriminatory. NERC is forwarding the complaint to the state’s attorney general’s office. NERC ruled that two other discrimination complaints filed by Todd Phillips related to the club would not progress to the AG.

Phillips had also complained that the club’s inclusion of private areas for women (including a female-only workout room with trainers educated in issues specific to women’s fitness and a women-only sauna and steam room) was discriminatory. He also complained that the coed club had cancelled his membership as a retaliatory measure for his complaints. Smith says that Phillips had expressed unhappiness over his membership and when management offered to release him from his contract, he had agreed. The NERC found no merit in these two complaints.

Now, Smith and the rest of LVAC’s management must wait to see what the AG decides to do with the case. The AG can either drop it or pursue charges. You can read more about this case here.

It’s not the first time the gender issue has caused a commotion in the industry. We’ve covered the case of one man in California who has filed suit against several women-only clubs for being discriminatory (see stories here and here). So far, the courts have ruled in his favor. I wonder if he’s joined all these clubs now?

Of course, the Las Vegas case is a bit different since it focuses specifically on the offer of free enrollments for women who join the club.

Have you had a similar issue occur at your club whether with enrollment fees or other offers specific to one gender? If so, let us hear about it. -Pam

You may have noticed something a little different about our Web site. Starting today, we’ve added commenting capability to the end of many of our stories. We’ve added this option for several reasons: First, we really want to know what you think about the stories that we publish. Second, we know that you have additional wisdom to add to these stories. Third, we want to help you to communicate with others in our industry.

So take your pick. Do you want to comment about sales at Nautilus, Precor or Cybex? How about the 24 Hour Fitness/Bally lawsuit? What about the clubs that are included on the Top 100 clubs list for 2008? Maybe you have a comment about Joe Cirulli being on the cover of Inc. magazine?

Feel free to go in and add your comments and questions. We’d like to hear from you. Just remember to keep your language respectful and as clean as you’d use around a 5-year-old. –Pam

As I listened to how much time Inc. magazine writer Bo Burlingham spent with Gainesville Health and Fitness Centers owner Joe Cirulli for this month’s Inc. cover story, I wanted to start drooling. (You can read our story about the story here.)

Cirulli told me how much time and effort the Inc. writer invested in what became a 5,000-word story. That’s about twice as long as our longest piece in our magazine. I wish we had the time to spend on a story like Bo had with Joe, whom we featured in a “Who’s Who in Fitness” story three years ago.

One of the many interesting aspects of the Inc. piece, titled “The Believer,” was how Cirulli came to Gainesville, FL, from his home in Elmira, NY. He went down there to visit his girlfriend, who was attending a local community college at the time. In fact, Cirulli remembered the first day he stepped foot in Gainesville—Oct. 27, 1973—which is pretty close to the day I was born. So it appears Joe and I have something in common. Reading about his great wealth and fortune, it also appears it’s the only thing we have in common.

A health club owner on the cover of a major business magazine is another solid shot in the arm for our industry. A couple of days ago, I blogged about 24 Hour Fitness’ presence at the Olympics in Beijing. After all the talk of declining memberships and fighting to stay afloat in a struggling economy, I’d say we’re having a pretty good week. –Stuart

It’s 2:17 in the morning on Sunday, and I can’t sleep, largely because of this annoying cough I’ve had the last two weeks.

There’s actually a live sporting event going on now on TV, a pre-Olympics tune-up between the USA men’s basketball team and Russia in Shanghai, China. Apparently, there’s an American on the Russian team, but that’s a topic for an another day and another Web site blog.

There’s a reason why this game has compelled me to write in the wee hours of the morning, and it’s not the fact that the U.S. is underachieving against the Russians/American. A series of 24 Hour Fitness logos popped up on the rotating sign boards on the sidelines facing the mid-court camera. As we reported in a recent Newsbeat, 24 Hour is an official partner of USA Basketball. McDonald’s, by the way, popped up on the sign boards later in the game, as well as something that appeared to be written in Chinese.

I have to say, it was pretty cool to see the 24 Hour name during a live sporting event. This should be a source of pride for 24 Hour CEO Carl Liebert, for founder and former chairman Mark Mastrov, and for everyone associated in the fitness club industry. With 24 Hour’s ties to the entire U.S Olympic team, I’m sure we’ll see more of 24 Hour’s presence when the Olympics kick off 08-08-08 (my anniversary!) in Beijing. –Stuart