Gold's Gym

Corporate history

The first Gold's Gym was opened by Joe Gold in August 1965 in Venice Beach, California. Dubbed "the Mecca of bodybuilding", it was frequented by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dave Draper and featured in the 1977 docudrama Pumping Iron, which brought attention not only to the gym itself but also to bodybuilding and physique in general. To this day, Gold's is considered a landmark in bodybuilding culture and has achieved cult status. In 1970, Gold sold the chain.

Today, Gold's Gym claims to be the largest chain of unisex gyms in the world, with more than 700 locations in 37 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., as well as 20 other countries. Gold's Gym has a membership of more than three and a half million, split almost equally between male and female patrons. Gold's Gym locations are equipped with cardiovascular and strength training equipment and offer group exercise classes such as group cycling, pilates, Latin dance, yoga, and stretching through the company program of GGX (Gold's Group Exercise). Many gyms also offer basketball courts, swimming pools, and boxing studios.

The company licenses its name to products such as fitness equipment and clothing. The original Gold's Gym logo, a bald weightlifter holding a barbell, was designed in 1973 by professional wrestler Ric Drasin, who was Schwarzenegger's training partner for four years. Notable users of Gold's Gym have included such celebrities as Jessica Alba, Jodie Foster, Morgan Freeman, Dwayne Johnson, Jim Morrison, Keanu Reeves, Hilary Swank, and Tiger Woods, among many others. The original Gold's Gym in Venice is considered a sports landmark by ESPN and is named on its list of the 100 most important sports venues.

Corporate information

Gold's Gym is privately owned. It was acquired from its previous owner, private equity firm Brockway Moran & Partners, by Robert Rowling's TRT Holdings in 2004 for approximately $158 million. Brockway Moran had acquired the company in 1999. Corporate headquarters are in the Dallas metropolitan area.

Since Gold's Gym opened its first international location in Canada in 1985, the company has expanded its global franchising program to include nearly 180 international gyms including operations in Russia, India, Australia, Costa Rica, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Peru and the Philippines. In 2009, the company opened its first locations in Spain, Poland and Venezuela.

In 2004, the company introduced the Gold's Gym Fitness Institute to serve as a think tank on critical health and fitness issues. The institute's members includes Ramona Braganza, Robert Reames, Mike Ryan and Eric the Trainer among others.

Gold's Gym operates a national corporate wellness program. Clients include Whole Foods, the U.S. House of Representatives, American Airlines and Exxon Mobil.

In 2004, Gold's Gym became a national fitness sponsor of the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. In 2006 the company became a National Strategic Partner of the American Diabetes Association, the ADA's highest designation for a corporate partner. Since their relationship began, Gold's Gym has raised more than $2.5 million to benefit diabetes research, education and awareness.

In 2009, Gold's Gym partnered with video game manufacturer Ubisoft to create the "Gold's Gym Cardio Workout" video game for the Wii. The game received positive reviews.

Gold's is one of two official health clubs of the AARP, where it offers month-to-month memberships, and is the official health club of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Gold's has begun offering online enrollment.

Under a license agreement with Gold's Gym, Icon Health & Fitness designs, manufactures, markets and sells a full line of fitness equipment under the Gold's Gym brand name.

Criticism

Numerous customers have reported Gold's Gym franchises acting in dishonest and unscrupulous ways. They have reported advertised deals not being honored, billing irregularities, contract terms being fraudulently altered by sales staff after signing and problems canceling accounts or relocating. A Gold's Gym in Provo, Utah, was successfully sued for fraud in 2006 for changing a contract after it was signed in 1999. In November 2014, this gym along with 16 other gyms in Utah left the Gold's Gym brand and became part of the newly-created VASA Fitness brand. An accusation of the same conduct of fraud arose again in 2017. On February 10, 2017, the billing processor for the gyms, Paramount Acceptance, and 26 companies under the VASA Fitness name (including new gyms since 2014) were served with a consumer class action lawsuit with numerous causes of action including fraudulent misrepresentation, violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and violations of the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act, with the entire complaint published by the plaintiff online.

Like many gyms, some Gold's Gym franchisees lure customers with free sign-up or gift certificates with fabricated nominal values, and then require long-term contracts that are very difficult to exit without paying cancellation fees and following long and inconvenient procedures (such as having to send a certified letter to their central billing office a month in advance). In the past, gym websites did not give membership rates and the gyms would usually not tell customers the rate over the phone, asking instead that customers come to the gym to have a tour and discussion, which often included a heavy sales pitch.

Cardio Cinema

Gold's Gym has provided the "Cardio Cinema" concept since at least 2008. It features a cinema projector screen and feature-length films but has treadmills installed instead of seats. Gold's Gym has more than 50 cardio cinemas across the U.S.