Blizzard Conditions

This week I scheduled a trip to Manchester, New Hampshire, to observe what's happening with the conversion of World Gym's corporately-owned club. My trip had a specific purpose based on one of my firm beliefs. It is this: when anyone claims to be an expert in a field, that claim needs to be backed up with "real world" experience.

Here's my reasoning. Consider this. Which would you rather receive business advice from- a) someone like a Harvard MBA who has never owned or operated a business a day in his life, or b) someone who's actually been "in the trenches", so to speak? My preference is for "b" because I trust experience more than theory. This is why it was important for me to see that the substance of World Gym consisted of more than just well-educated people with some good ideas. I wanted assurance that they were going to get in the trenches with me!

Finally, after a 12-hour road trip that normally takes only 6 (you may have heard about the wintry Nor'easter that hit the New England states at this time), I arrived at a Planet Fitness club in Manchester. This is the club that World Gym is converting to their "1440 All Axcess" concept.

I was glad to see that size-wise the club was almost identical to mine. It is also located in an unspectacular, somewhat blue-collar-looking plaza, as is my club. So I am encouraged by the fact that the first club undergoing the conversion mirrors mine so closely.

I met with Scott, construction manager for Planet Fitness. He provided insight into the planned structural changes that will accommodate the 24-hour access concept. Surprisingly, none of it is that extensive. In fact, Scott plans to have it completed within 2-3 days at the end of Christmas week.

Basically, they're removing a couple of interior walls, eliminating the check-in desk, and re-purposing one of the tanning rooms to make it a secured office. This is where the surveillance, security, and access computer will be housed. One other thing they're doing, for which I don't have the budget, is replacing all of their existing strength-training and free-weight equipment with brand new World Gym branded equipment, manufactured by Life Fitness.

Blizzard aside, it was a good trip that answered my questions. I got confirmation that the company is indeed in the trenches with me.