Shawn Stewart, the owner and CEO of CSS Fitness Holdings (CSSFH) has dreamed of owning his own health club for years, and with the recent acquisition of Fuel Fitness located in Mooresville, North Carolina, that dream is now a reality.
“After spending 20 years working at Gainesville Health and Fitness being mentored by a great leader, Joe Cirulli, that experience really helped build my foundational principles and philosophies for what I believe makes a great company,” said Stewart. “Also, having an opportunity to be the COO at a great company like O2 Fitness with multiple facilities in multiple markets and getting the experience of acquiring and building multiple clubs helped establish core competencies of running a business of that size. Having these experiences and opportunities make me believe this is the right time to start my own business.”
Stewart decided to acquire Fuel Fitness as the first health club brand within CSSFH because he wanted to begin in a market that has a strong foundation for growth and where they can create a community connection.
“For this location, I’m excited about the changes and upgrades we intend to add to the facility and member experience,” said Stewart. “These upgrades include a large outdoor turf area and training facility, multiple studios for cycling, yoga and personal training, functional training turf areas for customized workouts, virtual classes and training, and a recovery studio featuring the latest in pre- and post-training advancements.”
According to Stewart, CSS Fitness Holdings plans to be aggressive in developing and acquiring multiple brands and concepts in multiple markets within the industry. This includes large multi-purpose clubs, high-end facilities focused on personal training, boutique studios, franchise concepts, as well as pre- and post-workout recovery studios.
The vision for CSSFH will be to build a great organization based on a three-tiered pyramid Stewart believes all great companies are built on. The three tiers are foundation, systems and people.
“Our strong foundation will be a culture built on values and principles, a vision that is articulated throughout the company, and establishing a mission that inspires everyone to achieve,” said Stewart. “We then implement and execute systems that are built based on those foundational principles. Lastly and most important, we focus and invest in people. While people are the most important piece, like the roof of a house, you can’t begin there before you have the foundation in place.”
Above all, Stewart said he is excited to give the members at Fuel Fitness continued commitment to always offer the best in facilities, equipment, personal training and group exercises classes, all while providing an engaging social environment.
“Through fitness, we will always be dedicated to helping others achieve results, however that alone is not enough,” he said. “Achieving real, safe and lifelong results through a dynamic culture and experience will be our commitment through everyone’s fitness journey.”
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Taylor Gabhart is the editor of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at taylor@peakemedia.com.
