What: An alternative to
overcrowded gyms
Who: Robert B. Shapiro of
BodyScapes
Inc.
Where: Newton,
Massachusetts
When: Started in April 1997
During his tenure as a health-club manager, Robert Shapiro made
three observations: Some clients found it intimidating to use the
equipment for the first time, many had to wait to use the exercise
equipment during peak usage hours, and there was high demand for
personal training.
After he was laid off from the club, Shapiro wrote a business
plan, sought out a $70,000 loan from the SBA and opened a different
type of club. "We have five or six people an hour working out
at one time," explains Shapiro, 34, who intially relied on
word-of-mouth and grassroots marketing. Shapiro sets his business
apart by not offering gym memberships; instead, clients can buy
six, 12 or 22 sessions at a time, a feature that Shapiro credits
for his club's 90 percent retention rate.
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BodyScapes offers the latest in workout equipment, an intimate
setting and workouts by appointment only. (Clients are met by
trainers who take them through their individualized workouts.)
Clients range in age and fitness levels, including many who are
undergoing physical rehabilitation, and 65 percent are women.
Plus, the clubs are staffed by top-notch professionals: "We
have athletic trainers, physical therapists and exercise
physiologists," says Shapiro. "We have the best of the
exercise sciences."
With 2002 sales of $1.3 million, BodyScapes has three locations
in Massachusetts, chosen for their proximity to affluent
areas--after all, it takes a high-income demographic to afford the
$60-plus fee per session.
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