Unused Services at Get Fit Gym

BACKGROUND Bob Baxter has been the facilities manager at Get Fit Gym in Peach Grove, Illinois for the past five years. Peach Grove has a population of about 47,000 people with surrounding communities adding another 20,000. There are currently five gyms within Peach Grove's city limits with the majority of fitness members enrolled in Total Fitness Gym, Get Fit Gym, and the local university's gym in that order. FACILITY DESCRIPTION Get Fit Gym is a full service facility offering workout equipment, for fee trainers, swimming pools, saunas, whirlpools, and instructor led classes in cycling, weight lifting, aerobics, yoga, water aerobics, and for fee Cross fit training. Get Fit offers classes at various times throughout the day based upon member interest and instructor availability. The gym has one large exercise studio for aerobics and weight lifting classes, a smaller studio that is used for yoga, a room dedicated for cycling classes, and another room dedicated for Cross fit training classes. The gym is open during the week from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. with shortened operating hours during the weekends when fewer people work out (7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.). Gym members receive a swipe card that they must swipe at the front desk in order to gain access to the gym. As members swipe their cards for entry, they are usually greeted by front desk staff. Gym members pay an activation fee to join the gym and then a monthly fee of $45 thereafter. A member must remain a member of the gym for one year and then can cancel his/her membership within a month's notice to avoid a deactivation fee. Get Fit caters to a variety of customers covering a number of age brackets and fitness levels. In general, Get Fit's customer base may lean a little more heavily toward young professionals in their late 20's to early 40's. Get Fit strives to provide state-of-the-art equipment in an attractive, comfortable setting. Their vision is to ... "... equip members with the tools they need to achieve their fitness goals. "(Get Fit's Web site) THE COMPETITION Overall, Total Fitness Gym is very similar to Get Fit Gym. Total Fitness offers similar services for the same price as Get Fit. However, the facility is bigger; they have one more pool; and they offer more instructor led courses using an additional exercise studio. Total Fitness' hours of operation are the same and they cater to a very similar clientele as Get Fit Gym. However, a greater number of older customers seem to patronize Total Fitness as compared to Get Fit. Total Fitness' vision is to. "... provide fitness programs, equipment and guidance in a fun and caring environment to help members meet their health goals." (Total Fitness' Web site) The university's gym caters to college students, university employees, alumni, and community members with a majority of the patrons being college age. The university gym offers a weight room, instructor led fitness classes, a swimming pool, and fee based personal training. The overall cost for membership is about half that of the other two gyms for community members and is automatically built into the fee structure for students. CLASS OFFERINGS Like every organization facing budgetary restrictions, Get Fit has been trying to provide more services with fewer resources. Since one of Bob's biggest expenditures has always been staffing, cuts in this area have been able to provide the greatest influence on the facility's budget. Bob has considered himself fortunate to have not had to fire any of his employees. Over the past five years, some of his staff members have moved on to better paying positions at other businesses and he has addressed his budgetary needs by not refilling their positions. (Class instructors get paid $25 per class.) However, this has come at a cost as some of the classes taught by the former employees are no longer being offered. A noticeable difference in class offerings has become increasingly apparent between Get Fit and its biggest competitor, Total Fitness, causing customers to start to grumble. …