Witnessing a Club Conversion

Being located in Louisville, Ky., this week I have been able to witness the beginning of the conversion of an Urban Active location, into an LA Fitness location. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably always wondered, if you never saw it before, what it would be like to see one major brand purchase another.

Although I do not have any inside details as to what exactly executives at LA Fitness might change internally, I can discuss with you the physical changes of the club that I’ve noticed in the first three days.

On Monday, my initial wonder was — how would a fitness facility change over night, followed immediately by — how would they handle membership?

I can tell you that physically, not much had changed at this particular location on Monday. I was instructed to proceed with my workout, but given no further instructions — didn’t check in, in any way.

All the equipment was the same, the majority of trainers that were present the week before were all still there, and many of the members that were typically at the club, were still present. One change I did notice was an increase in the sales staff and their wardrobe had enhanced.

Tuesday, things stayed pretty much the same, with the addition of LA Fitness flyers on the front desk. I heard that other locations around town had information on the television monitors, but that wasn’t my experience. I’ve heard that there are supposed to be some major changes on the horizon, and as soon as I see them, I’ll write about how they occur.

One question I had was the transfer of members. Of course members/revenue would be the major selling factor of a fitness brand. What types of changes do you encounter in membership when there is a change in ownership? How can you avoid losing a massive group of members, and how can you make the transition painless to clients? How does the transition affect personal trainers? What would you do to solve all of these problems?