Who owns a Metroflex Gym?

[Johnny Smiles]

I have a friend interested in pursuing a deal with Metroflex Gym and I am pretty sure there is one or two guys on here who have bought a Metroflex franchise.
We would really appreciate it if we could reach out to you and learn from your experience.
Thank you,
-JS

 

[strongman456]

haven't opened one but I emailed them once. They wanted 25k up front and a portion of the revenue from what i remember

 

[Racepicks]

I'm also interested in opening a Metroflex Gym down here near Ft. Lauderdale. I will be reaching out to Metroflex for information, If anyone has information or experiences, I would appreciate any help you could provide.

 

[Queefer]

I'm also interested in opening a Metroflex Gym down here near Ft. Lauderdale. I will be reaching out to Metroflex for information, If anyone has information or experiences, I would appreciate any help you could provide.

And your manager will be..........................................

 

[gulfcoast]

What is the advantage to paying them to use the name? To the man and woman on the street, that name means nothing, unlike say a Gold's Gym.

The concept is well known - buy/rent a warehouse and fill it up with "old school" type equipment, tons of free weights and try to appear hardcore.

 

[Knight9]

Whatever you guys do...make sure you don't do what the Jacksonville guy did. Specifically ask why his failed so miserably and make SURE you don't make the same mistakes. It was a damn JOKE.

 

[kinglewy]

What is the advantage to paying them to use the name? To the man and woman on the street, that name means nothing, unlike say a Gold's Gym.

The concept is well known - buy/rent a warehouse and fill it up with "old school" type equipment, tons of free weights and try to appear hardcore.

Yeah the average person probably wouldn't even recognize the significance of a "Metro-Flex". It may work if it was in an area populated with a lot of hard-core bodybuilders.

I used to lift at a tiny hole-in-the-wall gym, one of those 24 hour ones where they give you a key-card and you come and go as you wish. It was great because no one was ever in there it was like having a whole gym to yourself.

The owners wanted 15k for it, I wanted to buy it so bad just to own a gym but I knew it was a losing investment. They didn't own the building so you had to pay a lease/electric/gas/water and upkeep on the equipment, and like I said there weren't many members. It would be cool to own one but I dont see how anyone makes money off a gym.

 

[bulking1]

I would invest in something else. Gyms don't make money anymore, you will have to compete with all those twenty four hour places that charge ten dollars a month. Where I live all the Golds and Power House gyms are closed ran out of town by PF,WW and Max fitness.

 

[Ashop]

I would invest in something else. Gyms don't make money anymore, you will have to compete with all those twenty four hour places that charge ten dollars a month. Where I live all the Golds and Power House gyms are closed ran out of town by PF,WW and Max fitness.

Extremely tough business. I know two friends who own gyms that are in bankruptcy as we speak.

 

[AshopRep]

Yeah the average person probably wouldn't even recognize the significance of a "Metro-Flex". It may work if it was in an area populated with a lot of hard-core bodybuilders.

I used to lift at a tiny hole-in-the-wall gym, one of those 24 hour ones where they give you a key-card and you come and go as you wish. It was great because no one was ever in there it was like having a whole gym to yourself.

The owners wanted 15k for it, I wanted to buy it so bad just to own a gym but I knew it was a losing investment. They didn't own the building so you had to pay a lease/electric/gas/water and upkeep on the equipment, and like I said there weren't many members. It would be cool to own one but I dont see how anyone makes money off a gym.

Sounds like my old gym.

 

[Sandpig]

Just the other day Jay was telling me he was going to have lunch with the guy who was the GM for all the Gold's here in Vegas. (He now runs the ones in the Phoenix are. Or at least some of them)

So naturally I asked if they were planning on opening a gym together and he said, "Hell No, there's no money to be made in a gym".

I always thought that if he put his name on a gym out here it would do great. Guess not.

 

[AshopRep]

Just the other day Jay was telling me he was going to have lunch with the guy who was the GM for all the Gold's here in Vegas. (He now runs the ones in the Phoenix are. Or at least some of them)

So naturally I asked if they were planning on opening a gym together and he said, "Hell No, there's no money to be made in a gym".

I always thought that if he put his name on a gym out here it would do great. Guess not.

Jay's gym would do well.

 

[Sandpig]

Jay's gym would do well.

He doesn't think so
I'm sure all the hardcores would train there plus visitors
But I'm sure that's not enough to make money

 

[flexdurden]

Jay's gym would do well.

He doesn't think so
I'm sure all the hardcores would train there plus visitors
But I'm sure that's not enough to make money

Jay's name would do well with the bodybuilding croud, but Suzie Jane who wants to do zumba and spend an hour on the adductor/abductor machine doesn't know Jay Cutler from John Doe. The market appeal needs to extend beyond a niche community (unless you buy a gym for a niche community and design it with minimal overhead costs and to fit the only the specific needs of that group - e.g. crossfit gyms)

The market appeal needs to be vast and the the prices competitive. This is damn hard because you need to be willing to eat those sunk costs of equipment that meet the needs of a diverse population as you keep member prices low. With member prices low, to prevent going under, you need to have a large customer base. This required a lot of marketing and promotions before you even lay the first brick. You need people lined up to join one day 1.

 

[Johnny Smiles]

I thought there was a member on here who opened one?
I was hoping to find him.... I personally would never invest in a gym (my father did and his eventually went bankrupt) but I am trying to find some resources for my friend....
-JS

 

[dougisbig]

Isn't the owner of the Phoenix MetroFlex a member here? Josh Barnett? Maybe there is more than one Josh Barnett in the industry and I am getting them mixed up, though.

 

[pieguy]

A gold's just opened up in my area with 800-900k worth of brand new equipment (hammer, hoist, etc) and they bought the building to not have to deal with having a lease pulled from under them. I don't understand how they stay afloat with only charging people $15-29 with an annual $60 fee. Seems like a losing proposition.

 

[Bio]

A gold's just opened up in my area with 800-900k worth of brand new equipment (hammer, hoist, etc) and they bought the building to not have to deal with having a lease pulled from under them. I don't understand how they stay afloat with only charging people $15-29 with an annual $60 fee. Seems like a losing proposition.

Exactly!

It's location, location, location. If someone opens a Gold's in a middle class area, they will most likely fail due to the $10 a month fitness gyms. If you're going to open a nice high end gym then you have to open it where the money is...Even then, it's not easy to stay afloat.

 

[bulking1]

I honestly miss the days of a expensive gym membership ,it kept all the rifraf and people who don't care about training out. But with cheap memberships and that little card on their key chain people don't mind if ten bucks a month is being taking out of their bank account and only going once in a while.

 

[tflexxin]

you get what you pay for. $10-20 month = broken equipment taking months to fix, dirty, etc.

A good gym should not charge less than $40-45 monthly, with a long term commitment. If you want to pay monthly with no contract, should be more. But them you have to offer good quality for the money.