The signs at Regina’s four Gold’s Gym locations won’t be saying that familiar name for much longer. As member’s build up their fitness, the ownership are building a new brand, Evolution Fitness.
New director of operations Korena Lafayette said that this change comes after eight months of surveying their members and working on changing the back-end of the business.
“Evolution fitness is an opportunity for us now to just focus locally, and to focus on our member base, bring us back into Canadian business and just go from there,” she explained.
Instead of being a franchise of an American company, Evolution Fitness will be locally owned and operated with a new management structure.
Lafayette said they will be rolling out some new boot camp options as well as other group classes.
As for pre-existing contracts, she said there won’t be any change.
“Family Fitness owns basically all of our agreements and all of our memberships,” Lafayette explained. “All of those stay the exact same, not going to see any changes there.”
Gold’s Gym members have access to other locations across North America. In an effort to continue this, Lafayette said they’re developing partnerships with other gyms in western Canada like Motion Fitness to give travelling members access to gyms in other cities.
However, not all members are happy with the change.
Professional truck driver Daniel Broussard is an avid bodybuilder who works out at Gold’s with his son. Originally from Nova Scotia, where he didn’t have access to Gold’s, he said it was his dream to work out at Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gym of choice.
“As a Christmas present, my wife got me a membership. It was an extra cost, it’s more expensive than some of the other gyms like a YMCA, but it’s always been a dream of mine to work out at a Gold’s Gym,” he said.
Broussard wanted to work at Gold’s because he said it’s synonymous with bodybuilding.
“A fitness gym is a fitness gym. There’s a hundred of them around, but there’s only one Gold’s Gym,” Broussard said.
“We’re kind of upset about the whole thing. We’re not actually sure if we’re going to continue with the membership. We’ll see what kind of changes take place.”
Others are more optimistic about what the rebranding can bring to the gym, including former Saskatchewan Roughrider Marcus Adams.
“Now you’re more of a home brand, and people from Regina really feel like this is home now, so I think this is a good idea,” he said.
Evolution Fitness will be hosting an open house at all four locations on February 18th. It will include free workouts and a look at new classes and programs they’re introducing.
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