EVERETT — Edmonds resident Joel Tallman is using his connections in the fitness world to lead a new gym business model, Max Fitness, under the FIT Brands name.
“It’s a new business designed to bring fitness to people on their terms,” Tallman said. “It’s kind of like the Marriott (hotel chain) of fitness brands.”
The FIT brands family includes Max Fitness, Max Fitness Elite, Max Fitness Express, American Club Systems and Club Administrative Services. Max Fitness currently has nine clubs in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. Tallman said he’s in negotiations with two major fitness groups in the Puget Sound area that would bring eight to 14 more gyms under the Max Fitness umbrella.
The FIT Brands idea took hold with Tallman in June, after he was let go by Gold’s Gym International after 11 years as a regional director and senior vice president of franchises. He created the new company with Charlie Lindsey and Tim Goodwin, the owners of American Club Systems whose former Gold’s Gyms now wear the Max Fitness name. Tallman is the FIT Brands president.
Lindsey and Goodwin launched ACS more than 20 years ago to help club owners improve ongoing operations, training and marketing. They created Club Administrative Services to provide billing and collection services specifically designed for fitness clubs.
Max Fitness is a new brand that is comprised of a flagship club as well as Max Fitness Elite and Max Fitness Express variations. FIT Brands is developing more Max Fitness clubs and is negotiating with other fitness club groups to join the new brand.
With an emphasis on corporate gym development, Tallman said he expects to own all or part of 100 to 200 Max Fitness, Max Fitness Elite and Max Fitness Express gyms within the next two years.
With the addition of franchises, “we’d like to be at 1,000 gyms in five to 10 years,” he said.
Tallman said he intends to develop a FIT Brands corporate office in the south Snohomish County area as part of the partnership’s multimillion-dollar “bi-coastal” effort.
“We’re also looking to Wall Street for venture capital and private equity,” Tallman said.
“Snohomish County’s my home,” he said. “I want to bring business here.”
The FIT Brands’ plan is to offer customers one-stop shopping for exercise, personal training, health and nutrition. Tallman said he’s negotiating with one group for personal training and another group for nutritional supplements.
“As we see relevant concepts, we’ll add them to the FIT Brands family,” Tallman said.
Tallman got his start in the fitness industry in 1984 as a director of Pacific West Sport and Racquet Club in Lynnwood. Bally’s bought Pacific West in 1988 and Tallman became a Bally’s director. He joined Gold’s Gym in 2000 as a regional director and senior vice president of franchises.
“I had a very high profile and there were few people I didn’t know in the industry,” Tallman said. “That’s where a lot of the business is coming from.”
“We’re in a unique position,” Goodwin said in a news release announcing the venture. “You wouldn’t consider us a start-up because we’ve been running some of FIT Brands’ businesses successfully for more than 20 years. At the same time, we are nimble enough to bring the right fit into the family as we grow our collection of fitness-focused companies.”
“Joel is FIT Brands’ driving force,” Lindsey said in the press release. “He’s a visionary who is at once creative and pragmatic. In our world, where operations and constant innovation come together everyday, that’s a delicate balance and Joel does it like nobody else in the industry.”
Kurt Batdorf: 425-339-3102, kbatdorf@scbj.com.
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