History
In 1983 slot machine maker Bally Manufacturing purchased Health and Tennis Corporation of America and Lifecycle, an exercise bike manufacturer. In 1987 it was the world's largest owner and operator of fitness centers. It further expanded with the purchase of the American Fitness Centers and Nautilus Fitness Centers, which were once connected to Vic Tanny and Jack LaLanne. The various brands were consolidated under the Bally Total Fitness brand in 1995.
In 1996 it was spun from its casino-owning parent. In May 1998 it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange trading under the ticker symbol of BFT. The company carried $300 million in debt at the time of its initial public offering.
Paul Toback, a former White House aide in the Clinton administration who joined Bally as a corporate development officer in 1997, was named Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in December 2002, immediately after predecessor Lee Hillman resigned.
On November 18, 2011, Bally Total Fitness announced the sale of 171 of its clubs located in 16 states and the District of Columbia to an affiliate of LA Fitness for $153 million. In February 2012 it sold the Toledo Airport Road club to Red Fitness 24/7. In April 2012, Bally sold an additional 39 facilities to Blast Fitness. Those two sales leaves Bally with 60 locations, 23 of them in the New York City area, six in the Cleveland, Ohio area (the 7-th in the Severance Town Center closed 2012-05-31 - http://clevelandheights.patch.com/articles/bally-total-fitness-closes-in-severance-town-center), six in the San Francisco area and seven in Denver. After the LA Fitness transaction, Bally had approximately 800,000 members, and that sale allowed it to retire its corporate debt.
Employees of the six remaining clubs in Cleveland told members that Red Fitness 24/7 (owned by former Scandinavian owner-operator) purchased 3 of the remaining Cleveland locations (Broadview Heights, Westlake & Snow) and the transfer would be effective 2012-07-01. However, financing could not be obtained and the deal fell through.
The number of clubs still in the Bally chain continue to dwindle. The Bally total Fitness in Danville, CA was closed on 2012-06-22 and reopened as Danville Fit (http://dublin.patch.com/articles/sprouts-shutters-goodbye-bally-total-fitness-hello-danville-fit-sushi-happy-hour-and-more).
A number of sources have now indicated that the Broadview Heights, OH (and possibly all of the Cleveland-area locations) will be closing by the end of 2012. This is despite the fact that Bally Total Fitness recently started a Fall membership advertising push.
Read more about this topic: Bally Total Fitness
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