Jeff Rivers knew from a young age that going to the gym was important to him. Now, he is the owner and founder of THE GYM and tries to help other people fall in love with working out like he did.
“I was heavy as a kid, and the teenage world is a mean world to be in,” said Rivers. “ So I started lifting weights and getting myself in shape. The other half of it is I always found myself naturally helping people in the weight room when they were confused or struggling. It’s my nature to help someone.”
So Rivers took that nature and created THE GYM in 2002, which he describes as being primarily a “highly concentrated personal training facility.” But in addition to high-quality personal training, THE GYM sets out to offer an “experience,” first and foremost, that will keep members coming back.
“Maybe 15 years ago I realized the gym industry was changing,” said Rivers. “It used to be a bunch of big guys who wanted to lift weights, but it was becoming more of a customer service industry. Everything was about experience, experience, experience and entertainment. So we saw where THE GYM could be a destination place, just like at a restaurant, that people want to go to for the experience.”
So Rivers and his staff set out to offer more group fitness classes, hire trainers and instructors that were “unique” and offer the best possible customer service, from teaching interesting classes to answering the phone satisfactorily.
The group fitness schedule at each of THE GYM’s three locations (in Montvale, N.J., Englewood, N.J. and Armonk, N.Y.) is constantly changing, to keep members interested. And there are different classes for each type of workout. For boxing, there is a “Bag Blast” and a contact boxing class. For those who enjoy dancing, there are Zumba toning, hip-hop and Latin cardio classes.
For each group fitness class, THE GYM allows its trainers the creativity to make it their own.
“We don’t run a box group system,” said Rivers. “THE GYM doesn’t dictate what they run. With the class instructors we hire, we like to capitalize on their uniqueness and their ability to motivate and program for themselves.”
That unique experience, whether it be through the group fitness or THE GYM’s personal training, is communicated in the club’s marketing messages.
“One of the things we do is try to communicate the experience to potential members,” said Mike Dardano, who works with THE GYM’s public relations. “It’s very expensive to try and recruit people who sit on their couch all day and eat Oreos, so it’s not worth it to throw money at people who will never work out. What we try to do is put together creative messaging that focuses on our experience that also reflects our demographic of people who will actually come in THE GYM.”
Part of THE GYM’s marketing strategy is teaming with nonprofits and charities. The club has worked with the American Cancer Society, the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, Make a Wish and other local and national organizations. From push-up contests raising money for charity, to donating items for raffles, THE GYM has tried to stay involved in its community.
Whether it’s charity work or just using personal training to help its members, THE GYM focuses on how it can assist the people around it. Just like when Rivers found himself in the weight room as a teenager, he looks to create the same atmosphere of helping others within his own gym.
“We have a large market of people to help,” he said. “We have some athletes but we also have the 80-year-old man and the 45-year-old housewife that comes to THE GYM. It’s a good mix.”
By Ashley Scoby
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
