In a surprising move The Sports Club/LA members of Beverly Hills were notified earlier this month that their beloved health club has a pending sale in progress to Equinox.
The Sports Club/LA has been owned and operated by Michael Talla, Rex Licklider, and Nanette Pattee Francini. They pioneered the “lifestyle approach” to fitness offering services, amenities, and products in addition to state of the art equipment and an array of classes from spin, to aerobics, to yoga.
On August 3, 2011 Equinox released to the public their plans to acquire the assets of The Sports Club Company and its four trophy The Sports Club/LA properties located in West Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Orange County, and Rockefeller Center.
Equinox has been recognized as an industry leader in delivering member services creating an upscale spa experience in addition to offering up to date equipment and a wide variety of classes.
The Sports Club/LA clubs in Boston, Miami, San Francisco, New York on Manhattan’s upper West Side, and Washington D.C., as well as Reebok Sports Club/NY are not affected by the acquisition and continue to be owned and operated by Millennium Partners Sports Club Management.
The Beverly Hills Club at the corners of Camden Drive, Dayton Way, and Wilshire Blvd has been the focal point of the convergence of those three corners for 20 years.
With Barney’s New York across the street and Saks Fifth Avenue a few feet away Beverly Hills is transformed from the family community that it is into a small sophisticated city that rivals New York in shopping and tourism.
The Sports Club/LA Beverly Hills' members are a reflection of the city. Local PTA parents mingle in the locker rooms and chat while waiting for REV class to begin.
It is heart warming to see the boys from Beverly Hills High School bench-pressing after school and the girls taking the yoga classes. Many of these students exercise side by side with their parents who are also members.
Local working people are minutes from exercise, many not having to fight the traffic traveling to another club.
Seniors are exercising next to teens on the recumbent bicycles and the abdominal machines.
Beverly Hills’ club members have mixed feelings about the change in management. The club is a second home to many of its members. With the close of the sale within the next few months there are many unanswered questions.
Equinox has plans to refurbish the club. According to a source, they are not planning to close the clubs for renovations.
Will the current staff and instructors remain in place? Will the current costs remain stable? Harvey Spevak, chief executive of Equinox told the LA Times in a story that, “the acquisition will not affect members of the clubs involved. The Sports Club/LA members will not have to reapply for membership, and there are no plans to increase fees”.
The answers to all these questions will unfold in the next month.
At this time there is no further information on the planned changes for the Beverly Hills club.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-luxury-fitness-deal-20110805.0.4860132.story
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