LA Fitness International LLC (doing business as LA Fitness) is an American gym chain with over 700 clubs across the United States and Canada. The company was formed in 1984 and is based in Irvine, California.
History
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LA Fitness was founded in 1984 by founders Chin Yi, Chairman & CEO and Louis Welch, President & CEO with one location at the corner of Hollenbeck Avenue and Arrow Highway in Covina, a suburb of Los Angeles, California. Official records describing the company's history and growth are few. Through the mid-1990s, the company expanded by acquiring under-performing fitness clubs in southern California, and by developing, opening and operating newly constructed properties.
In 1995, LA Fitness designed and built a new multipurpose sports and fitness club that became the company’s signature model at the time. This prototypical design starts with the strength and cardio equipment, free weights and group exercise room that are found in most fitness centers and adds a swimming pool and court sports (basketball and racquetball in most locations) to offer LA Fitness members a wider variety of workout options.
Operations
LA Fitness remains a privately-owned company, with major ownership interests held by private equity firms Seidler Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners.
LA Fitness locations include weight and cardio equipment, group fitness classes throughout the day, indoor heated lap pool, spa, sauna, racquetball and basketball courts, locker facilities, personal trainers, Kids Klub (babysitting), juice bar, and swim school (some facilities may vary).
LA Fitness locations are open 7 days per week. Some locations are open 24 hours.
Expansion
With a successful prototype in place, LA Fitness then expanded its in-house development efforts, and new club construction now accounts for the vast majority of the clubs opened every year. In 1998, with 12 proven prototype clubs in southern California and Arizona, the company rapidly increased the rate of new club development and began rolling out its concept into several new geographic regions across the U.S., including the Sun Belt, the Pacific Northwest, the Mid-Atlantic states, the Northeast, and the upper Midwest. The rate of expansion was rapid, with over 180 new clubs added from 2006 to 2009.
Acquisitions
In 2000, the company acquired the then-largest health club chain in Atlanta and eventually replaced its 25 units with 14 larger prototype clubs. The company continued to build clubs in the Atlanta area and currently has 26 clubs in Georgia.
In 2007, the company expanded outside of the United States by acquiring six fitness clubs in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, the company acquired ten locations in Phoenix from Pure Fitness Arizona. Within a year, all but one of the former Pure Fitness clubs were closed.
On November 30, 2011, the company completed the acquisition of 171 clubs, for $153M, from Bally Total Fitness. LA Fitness then began closing some former Bally Fitness clubs near existing LA Fitness facilities and some others for remodeling.
On July 2, 2012, the company completed the acquisition of all 33 Lifestyle Family Fitness Clubs in Florida. According to Lifestyle CEO, Stuart Lasher, "we evaluated our option to remain an independent company or to sell to a larger organization. After careful consideration, the board of directors has made the decision to sell all of the Lifestyle Family Fitness clubs in Florida to LA Fitness."
On December 23, 2013, LA Fitness announced the acquisition of The Buffalo and Rochester Athletic Clubs in western New York. The Press release read:
The Buffalo and Rochester Athletic Clubs and LA Fitness announced today that they have completed a transaction whereby LA Fitness has purchased substantially all the assets of the four Buffalo and two Rochester co-ed clubs. The BAC/RAC for Women clubs in both cities and the CrossFit BAC Extreme Training facility on Union Road in Cheektowaga will continue to be operated under the BAC/RAC umbrella.
On December 30, 2013, they completed the acquisition of all 10 Vision Quest Sport and Fitness clubs in the greater Seattle area.
References
External links
- Official website
