| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Genre | Fitness |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Founder(s) | Mark S. Mastrov |
| Headquarters | San Ramon, California, USA |
| Area served | 17 U.S. states, 3 international |
| Owner(s) | Forstmann Little & Company |
| Employees | over 20,000 |
| Website | 24hourfitness.com |
24 Hour Fitness is the world's largest (by memberships) privately owned and operated fitness center chain, and third in number of clubs behind Gold's Gym and Fitness First of the UK. It currently has 425 clubs and over 20,000 employees in the U.S.A. The company has its corporate office located in San Ramon, California and a processing center located in Carlsbad, California. The founder is Mark S. Mastrov and current CEO is Carl Liebert III. 24 Hour Fitness is currently owned by the private equity firm Forstmann Little & Company, since its acquisition in a $1.6 billion leveraged buyout in 2005. 24 Hour Fitness operates a nutritional supplement company, Apex Fitness Group, which is also the distributor of the Bodybugg system.
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The company began as a one-club operation in 1983 called 24 Hour Nautilus. Mark Mastrov and Leonard Schlemm began the firm, with Mastrov and Schlemm remaining to continue its expansion.
In 1991, CEO Mark Mastrov hired Mark Golob and Dean Moloney as Vice President of Marketing. Golob created promotional campaigns with Pamela Anderson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mike Tyson that increased membership and sales. During Golob's tenure, he and Mastrov, along with Tom Gergley, began planning an international chain of health clubs.
In 1994, 24 Hour Nautilus partnered with McCown De Leeuw and soon thereafter acquired the Southern California-based Family Fitness Centers chain, renaming the company 24 Hour Fitness.
In 2004, 24 Hour Fitness became a sponsor of the 2004-2008 United States Olympic teams. The sponsorship grants memberships to some U.S. Olympic hopefuls and includes upgrades to some U.S. Olympic Training Centers across the country, including renovation of the facility in Colorado Springs, CO in 2004 to be followed by Lake Placid, NY and Chula Vista, CA.
24 Hour Fitness worked with NBC to develop a reality show, The Biggest Loser, which features 12 to 22 overweight contestants competing to lose weight over several million dollars. The show first aired in late 2004.
From 2005 to 2008, 24 Hour Fitness co-sponsored the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team.
Starting in April 2011, 24 Hour Fitness membership teams are no longer commission based making the gyms a more "customer-friendly" atmosphere.
24 Hour Fitness has about 3 million members and nearly 400 clubs in 17 states, and some 15 clubs in three Asian countries. Besides the USA, it has centers in Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai in China) through its wholly owned subsidiary California Fitness, its former centers in Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, and Taiwan (10/1/2010) have closed or been sold off, of which franchised gyms (Korea only) being abruptly closing on contracted members without reimbursement. Its European clubs closed in the early 2000s. Its major competitors in the US are Anytime Fitness, Bally's, Gold's Gym, and LA Fitness. Its main chain competitors in Asia are Bally Total Fitness, Gold's Gym, True Fitness of Singapore, plus the Fitness First chain of the UK.
Its former affiliate California Wow Xperience (CEO is a former Cali Fitness executive), is a California Fitness offshoot, used to have member swap agreements with both chains (but now terminated), and runs gyms located in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Pattaya in Thailand, including one female only club(10). Celebrity Fitness, yet another gym chain with 24 hour fitness roots, is headquartered in Jakarta and runs gyms in Indonesia, Malaysia, and India. Two more California Wow franchises exist in Vietnam, which are run as private gyms, independently of those of in Thailand. None of these offshoots compete directly with California Fitness. In Asia, California Fitness' major chain competitors are Fitness First and Gold's Gym.
24 Hour Fitness plans to have more than 1000 clubs in the next five years. With sponsorships with various celebrities and athletes such as Derek Jeter, Jackie Chan, Lance Armstrong, Shaquille O'Neal, And Andre Agassi.[1]
The call center for 24 Hour Fitness is run by NARS (National Asset Recovery Services, Inc.), with 24 Hour Fitness Member Services being in the Republic of Panama. Collections services were once handled by Alliance One up until March 2008, when NARS took over collections for 24 Hour Fitness. The NARS collections department is out of Montego Bay, Jamaica.
The company entered the highly competitive New York City market in 2007. Despite significant investment and a partnership with New York Yankee, Derek Jeter, membership levels at the company's Soho and Madison Square Park location remain dismal. Analysts suggest that these locations are "dead spots" within Manhattan, being too close to commercially zoned areas as well as existing health clubs with strong member loyalty.
24 Hour Fitness currently has 6 levels of Clubs: Fit-Lite, Express, Active, Sport, Super-Sport, and Ultra-Sport. In addition 24 Hour Fitness has signature clubs with Andre Agassi, Lance Armstrong, Derek Jeter, Magic Johnson, and Shaquille O'Neal, as well as Jackie Chan and Yao Ming in its clubs in Asia.
Generally over 100,000+ square feet, cardio equipment, free weights, Group X Room, Kid's Club, basketball court, pool, tanning, executive lockers, massage, racquetball club, rock climbing and volleyball. The company has 4 Ultra-Sport level clubs: Lakeshore Towers in Irvine, CA[2] and 3 Derek Jeter Ultra-sport clubs in Manhattan, NY[3]
Generally over 50,000+ square feet, cardio equipment, free weights, Group X Room, Kid's Club, basketball court, pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and tanning.
Some Super Sport Level clubs have racquetball courts.
Generally over 35,000+ square feet, cardio equipment, free weights, Group X Room, Kid's Club,sometimes basketball courts, sauna, steam room, spa and pool.
Generally over 20,000+ square feet, cardio equipment, free weights, Group X Room, and a Kid's Club.
Contains cardio equipment, limited free weights, and Group X Room.
Contains cardio-resistance equipment, limited weight machines and small fitness mat. Set up to be a full body circuit to be completed in 30 minutes by rotating machines every 60 seconds when a notification bell chimes.