Gold’s Gym has signed a deal to acquire The Rush Fitness Complex, a 23-club chain with locations in Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The deal is officially slated to close in August. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Rush Fitness Complex’s 23 clubs will be rebranded under the Gold’s Gym name, which is expected to be complete by the end of the year. Each club will remain open throughout the transition.
All 23 of the new locations will be corporate-owned. As a result, Gold’s Gym will boast 146 corporate-owned locations, a 40 percent increase since July 2013.
“Following steady growth this last quarter, which included the acquisition of Aspen Athletic Clubs, we are excited to kick off the second half of the year with this announcement,” said Aaron Watkins, the president of Gold’s Gym, in a press release. “There were obvious synergies between The Rush Fitness Complex offerings and Gold’s Gym offerings, which is why this deal was attractive to us. We look forward to providing award-winning service and helping these new members of the Gold’s Gym family reach their individual fitness goals.”
Gold’s Gym acquired Aspen Athletic Clubs in June 2014, which marked the company’s re-entry into the markets of Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. The acquisition of The Rush marks the entry of Gold’s Gym into several new markets including Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee; Dalton, Georgia; and Asheville, North Carolina.
“This is an exciting development for our Rush employees and members,” said David Carney, the president and CEO of The Rush, in the press release. “We share a similar operating philosophy with Gold’s Gym along with a passion for customer service. Our members and employees will now be part of one of the strongest brands in the industry.”
All existing memberships will be honored at the new locations, automatically converting to Gold’s Gym memberships without any interruption to current members.
The Rush Fitness Complex was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Knoxville.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
I am a 25 year veteran of the fitness industry and successful previous golds gym franchise operator ready to make a move