I’ve been spending more and more time at 24 Hour Fitness. When I moved to San Ramon, CA, I looked for the closest 24 Hour Fitness because I had a membership with them in Utah. The club in San Ramon is large – lots of everything.
The club is conveniently located on Norris Canyon which puts it halfway between Crow Canyon and Bollinger Canyon. Did I say convenient? Make that super-convenient – right smack dab in the middle of the biggest congregation of working population in San Ramon – Bishop Ranch.
When I first came to this club on Norris Canyon, they were remodeling the men’s locker room so the showers, and toilets were in trailers. When I moved into a condo with a small workout room, it wasn’t hard to let 24 Hour Fitness go. But after a few months, I noticed I wasn’t working out at the condo because the room provided was cramped – throw a few workout machines in a closet so you can advertise you have a workout room. So back I went to 24 Hour Fitness dragging 20 more pounds with me.
The club has a good mix of folks. There are enough of us out-of-shape old dogs that we can workout at a sensible rate without trying to keep up with 6-pack ab crowd. I like to go at about 4pm. I can get there just before the 5pm crowd when finding a treadmill or elliptical machine is impossible. And, I get out of there in time for dinner at Whole Foods. Going to Borders Books is a great way to keep from becoming a couch potato in front of the TV.
The other night after leaving 24 Hour Fitness, I went over to Whole Foods in the Shops at Bishop Ranch complex and had a bite to eat. Then I walked over to Borders Books with my bag of reading material. There was an article in the East Bay Business Times on Carl C. Liebert lll, the CEO of 24 Hour Fitness. Surprise to me – 24 Hour Fitness is headquartered right here in San Ramon, CA.
Given that, I just had to write them up.
In the article, Liebert says one of the things he wants to address is the 100% turnover at 24 Hour Fitness. This is something I noticed in Utah, they went through staff faster than fitness memberships after the New Year’s resolutions wear off.
If Carl C. Liebert lll ever reads this post, I want to mention the two things that irk me the most at the club.
- People on the cardio machines yelling into their cell phones.
- Half lockers – at least in Utah they had a mix of full size – and you guys just remodeled the locker rooms.
I could share at least one marketing idea with Carl that his corporation seems to have overlooked. Who knows, maybe he'll email me and I can claim to have been a marketing consultant to 24 hour Fitness!
If you are moving into San Ramon, I highly recommend 24 Hour Fitness – give me a shout and I will get you a couple of day passes so you can check it out.
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