Bally Total Fitness

Last updated
Bally Total Fitness
Type Public
Industry Fitness
Founded1983;40 years ago (1983) [1]
DefunctOctober 2016;7 years ago (2016-10)
Fate Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Liquidation events
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Area served
United States
Website ballytotalfitness.com

Bally Total Fitness was an American fitness club chain. At its 2007 peak, prior to the filing of the first of two Chapter 11 bankruptcies, Bally operated nearly 440 facilities located in 29 U.S. states, Mexico, Canada, South Korea, China, and the Caribbean under the Bally Total Fitness, Crunch Fitness, Gorilla Sports, Pinnacle Fitness, Bally Sports Clubs, and Sports Clubs of Canada brands.

Contents

History

A Bally gym in Cedar Mill, Oregon in July 2011. The gym building was renovated the following year into an Orchard Supply Hardware. Bally Total Fitness gym - Cedar Mill, Oregon.jpg
A Bally gym in Cedar Mill, Oregon in July 2011. The gym building was renovated the following year into an Orchard Supply Hardware.

In 1983, slot-machine and arcade game manufacturer Bally Manufacturing purchased Health and Tennis Corporation of America, entering the leisure industry and creating the Bally Health and Tennis Corporation division of the company. It also purchased Lifecycle (Life Fitness), an exercise bike manufacturer, renaming the company Bally Fitness Products. [2]

In 1987, Bally 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.[ citation needed ]

The various brands were consolidated under the Bally Total Fitness brand in 1995. [2] By that year, the company was the world's largest owner and operator of health clubs. It operated a total of 325 health clubs in the United States and Canada. The rebranding was done to take advantage of the Bally name as well as rename the existing Tanny and LaLanne locations. [2]

In 1996, Bally Total Fitness was spun off 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. [3]

Paul Toback, a former White House aide in the Clinton administration, who had joined Bally as a corporate development officer in 1997, was named Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in December 2002, immediately after predecessor Lee Hillman resigned. [4] [5] [6]

On November 18, 2011, Bally Total Fitness announced the sale of 171 of its clubs located in sixteen states and the District of Columbia to an affiliate of LA Fitness for $153 million. [7] After the LA Fitness transaction, Bally had approximately 800,000 members; the sale allowed Bally to retire its corporate debt. [7]

In April 2012, Bally sold an additional 39 facilities to Blast Fitness. [8] [9] Blast Fitness began operating the new facilities under their own name in stages, transitioning entirely away from the Bally's name.

The two sales left Bally with 44 locations, 27 of them in the New York area, 8 in the San Francisco area, 1 in Louisiana and 8 in Colorado. [8]

The number of clubs still in the Bally chain continued to dwindle. The Bally Total Fitness location in Danville, California closed on June 22, 2012 and reopened as Danville Fit. [10] The former Bally club in Colorado Springs, Colorado, changed ownership in June 2014, and became Voretex Fitness. [11]

In December 2014, 32 locations in New York, New Jersey, Denver, and San Francisco Bay Area were acquired by 24 Hour Fitness. [12] [13] The Greece, New York location closed without notice on December 30, 2014. [14]

The 106th St location in New York City became a Tapout Fitness center in August 2016, and the last Bally location in NYC closed on October 26, also becoming a Tapout Fitness center. As a result, Bally Total Fitness became completely defunct. [15]

As of 2022, the Bally Total Fitness name was still being used for a line of fitness equipment and clothing owned by FAM Brands. [16]

Bankruptcies

A former Bally Total Fitness renovated into a 24 Hour Fitness MTA Kew Gdns Union Tpke 42 - 24 Hour Fitness.jpg
A former Bally Total Fitness renovated into a 24 Hour Fitness

Bally filed for bankruptcy in August 2007, with outstanding debts of $761 million. [17] [18] Over the preceding ten years, its stock price had fallen from a high of approximately US$37.00 to less than $0.37 on the Pink Sheets, a plunge of over 99% of its value. [18] It was removed from the NYSE shortly thereafter.

On October 1, 2007, Bally announced its emergence from bankruptcy court protection, 100% owned by a hedge fund, Harbinger Capital. Earlier that year, it had sold off its 16 Toronto health clubs to existing chains: 10 locations were sold to GoodLife Fitness, and 6 to Extreme Fitness, allowing the latter company its first move into the downtown core for what had heretofore been a suburban chain. [19]

On December 3, 2008, Bally again filed for bankruptcy due to problems arising from the global credit crisis. [20] The company indicated at that time that it would explore options including reorganization or possibly even a sale, but that it hoped to emerge from bankruptcy as soon as possible. [21]

Investigations and controversies

Exterior of now defunct Bally Total Fitness from 2008 Bally Total Fitness, Palm Trees, Snow Cap'd Mtns (3148438362).jpg
Exterior of now defunct Bally Total Fitness from 2008

Bally Total Fitness has been the subject of controversy over its sales and membership cancellation practices, with some customers claiming they were misled into signing loans with terms up to three years using documents containing uncommonly-used language such as "Retail Installment Contract". Customers alleged that they subsequently found themselves dealing with collection agencies. [22]

In April 1994, Bally paid $120,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges of illegal billing, cancellation, refund, and debt-collection practices. Consumers have complained, however, that little has changed over the years. [23] From 1999 to 2004, over six hundred customers complained to the New York Attorney General's office, leading to an investigation and subsequent agreement by Bally Total Fitness to reform their sales tactics in February 2004. [24]

In 1997, Bally’s became the subject of a pioneering type of website that published consumer complaints. Bally’s club members Drew Faber and Ryan Meyer believed they were subjected to a bait and switch marketing scheme by Bally’s, so they decided to create a website called “Bally Sucks.” On it, Faber and Meyer put Bally’s trademark with the word “sucks” printed across it. The website also collected complaints from Bally’s customers and published them. [25]

Bally’s sued Faber and Meyer for trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and unfair competition. A federal district court, however, ruled in favor of Faber and Meyer, concluding that there is no likelihood that consumers would confuse Faber’s and Meyer's mark, which is critical of Bally’s, with Bally’s actual trademark. The court also held that Faber and Meyer did not dilute Bally’s trademark or engage in unfair competition. [26] After the court’s decision, Bally’s and Meyer agreed to a settlement. But the case had already rendered a roadmap for consumer complaint websites. The settlement included confidentiality and nondisparagement provisions, so Meyer was forced to decline all media requests for interviews. [25]

Bally has been the subject of at least one federal investigation, in addition to the aforementioned probe into consumer complaints against Bally, conducted by the New York State Attorney General, regarding the firm's sales practices. In April 2004, Bally disclosed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was investigating its accounting practices, and in February 2005, the U.S. Justice Department joined the probe. [27] [28] The company eventually restated its financial statements for 1997 through 2003.

On February 28, 2008, the SEC filed financial fraud charges against Bally Total Fitness. The SEC alleged that in 2001, Bally overstated its originally reported stockholder's equity by roughly $1.8 billion (over 340%), and that Bally underestimated its 2003 net loss by $90.8 million (or 845%). [29] [30] [31] [32]

In 2010, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced that the company had mailed over 11,000 fake past-due notices to former members. The Attorney General charged that Bally had urged consumers to immediately pay their late fees and that the conduct was part of a scheme to get consumers to re-join the club. [33]

Related Research Articles

Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included Mortal Kombat, Rampage, Spy Hunter, NBA Jam, Cruis'n, and NFL Blitz. Midway also acquired the rights to video games that were originally developed by Williams Electronics and Atari Games, such as Defender, Joust, Robotron: 2084, Gauntlet, and the Rush series.

Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a private, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization founded in 1912. BBB's self-described mission is to focus on advancing marketplace trust, consisting of 97 independently incorporated local BBB organizations in the United States and Canada, coordinated under the International Association of Better Business Bureaus (IABBB) in Arlington, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orbitz</span> Web-based travel fare aggregator service

Orbitz.com is a travel fare aggregator website and travel metasearch engine. The website is owned by Orbitz Worldwide, Inc., a subsidiary of Expedia Group. It is headquartered in the Citigroup Center, Chicago, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold's Gym</span> American chain of international fitness centers

Gold's Gym International, Inc. is an American chain of international co-ed fitness centers originally started by Joe Gold in Venice Beach, California. Each gym offers a variety of cardio and strength training equipment as well as group exercise programs. Gold's Gym's headquarters have relocated to Dallas.

TransUnion is an American consumer credit reporting agency. TransUnion collects and aggregates information on over one billion individual consumers in over thirty countries including "200 million files profiling nearly every credit-active consumer in the United States". Its customers include over 65,000 businesses. Based in Chicago, Illinois, TransUnion's 2014 revenue was US$1.3 billion. It is the smallest of the three largest credit agencies, along with Experian and Equifax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BlueHippo Funding</span>

BlueHippo Funding, LLC was an installment credit company operating in the USA founded by Joseph Rensin that claimed to offer personal computers, flat-screen televisions and other high-tech items for sale to customers with poor credit. In an article published November 25, 2009 titled BlueHippo files for bankruptcy: Company blames its bank; was accused of violating settlement with FTC, Eileen Ambrose reported that the company "was forced to file for protection under Chapter 11." On Wednesday December 9, 2009, the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after having its funds frozen by their payment processor. A petition to a Delaware bankruptcy judge to release the funds was denied. The company's advertised toll-free phone number and website are no longer functioning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warnaco Group</span> Former American clothing and textile company

The Warnaco Group, Inc. was an American textile/clothing corporation which designed, sourced, marketed, licensed, and distributed a wide range of underwear, sportswear, and swimwear worldwide. Its products were sold under several brand names including Calvin Klein, Speedo, Chaps, Warner's, and Olga.

The multinational technology corporation Apple Inc. has been a participant in various legal proceedings and claims since it began operation and, like its competitors and peers, engages in litigation in its normal course of business for a variety of reasons. In particular, Apple is known for and promotes itself as actively and aggressively enforcing its intellectual property interests. From the 1980s to the present, Apple has been plaintiff or defendant in civil actions in the United States and other countries. Some of these actions have determined significant case law for the information technology industry and many have captured the attention of the public and media. Apple's litigation generally involves intellectual property disputes, but the company has also been a party in lawsuits that include antitrust claims, consumer actions, commercial unfair trade practice suits, defamation claims, and corporate espionage, among other matters.

Video Professor, Inc. was an American company that developed and marketed tutorials for a variety of computer-related subjects, such as learning to use Microsoft Word, Microsoft Windows, and eBay. Video Professor was founded in 1987 by John W. Scherer and was located in Lakewood, Colorado. It was known in the U.S. for its commercials and infomercials on late night television and print ads almost daily in USA Today and other nationally-distributed newspapers. The company has been the subject of controversy regarding its sales and billing practices, as well as lawsuits it has filed against online critics of the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">24 Hour Fitness</span> Fitness center chain

24 Hour Fitness is a privately owned and operated fitness center chain headquartered in Carlsbad, California. It is the second largest fitness chain in the United States based on revenue after LA Fitness, and the fourth in number of clubs, operating 287 clubs across 11 U.S. states. The company was originally founded by Mark S. Mastrov and was sold to Forstmann Little & Co in 2005, and then to AEA investors and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Planet Fitness</span> American fitness center franchise

Planet Fitness is an American franchisor and operator of fitness centers based in Hampton, New Hampshire. The company reports that it has around 2,400 clubs, making it one of the largest fitness club franchises by number of members and locations. The franchise has locations in the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Panama, Mexico, and Australia. It markets itself as a "Judgement Free Zone" that caters to novice and casual gym users, and has faced both praise and criticism for its atmosphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LA Fitness</span> Health club chain in the United States and Canada

LA Fitness is an American gym chain with more than 550 clubs across the United States and Canada. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in Irvine, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Town Sports International Holdings</span> U.S. fitness center company

Town Sports International Holdings is an operator of fitness centers in Florida and in Puerto Rico. Its current brands include Liv Fitness Clubs, Palm Beach Sports Clubs, and Christi's Fitness. Former brands include New York Sports Clubs, Boston Sports Clubs, Philadelphia Sports Clubs, Washington Sports Clubs, Lucille Roberts, TMPL Gym and Total Woman Gym and Spa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Furniture</span> American furniture retailer

Jennifer Furniture is an American retail company, based in Great Neck, New York. The company is owned by John Garg and the Namdar Realty Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Fitness</span> Gym franchise based in East Asia

The first California Fitness club was established in 1996 in the business district of Hong Kong near Lan Kwai Fong. There were 16 clubs in Hong Kong, Singapore and China. California Fitness was acquired in 1999 by 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide, which sold it to the Ansa Group in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bally Manufacturing</span> American company

Bally Manufacturing, later renamed Bally Entertainment, was an American company that began as a pinball and slot machine manufacturer, and later expanded into casinos, video games, health clubs, and theme parks. It was acquired by Hilton Hotels in 1996. Its brand name, and mid-20th century pinball & slot machine logo, are still used by several businesses with some trademark rights, most notably Bally Technologies and Bally's Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paulson & Co.</span> American investment management firm

Paulson & Co. Inc. is a family office based in New York City, previously it was an hedge fund established by John Paulson in 1994. It specializing in "global merger, event arbitrage and credit strategies", the firm had a relatively low profile on Wall Street until its hugely successful bet against the subprime mortgage market in 2007. At one time the company had offices in London and Dublin.

Paul Toback is an Illinois attorney who served as chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Bally Total Fitness Corporation from December, 2002 until August 11, 2006, prior to the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2007. He received a lump sum payment for more than $3 million, and the vesting of 135,000 shares of restricted stock upon his resignation. Seven months before his resignation, Toback ceded effective control of the Bally board of directors to John Rogers, chief executive of Ariel Capital Management, who was named as "lead director." Prior to his resignation, Toback alleged that major Bally shareholder Emanuel Pearlman of Liberation Investments and former Bally CEO Lee Hillman were behind calls for his ouster, which Pearlman and Hillman denied.

TitleMax, Inc. is an American privately owned title lending business with corporate offices in Dallas, Texas and Savannah, Georgia. The company has more than 1,100 stores in sixteen states. TitleMax serves individuals who generally have limited access to consumer credit from banks, thrift institutions, credit card lenders, and other traditional sources of consumer credit. TitleMax offers title loan and title pawn products which allows customers to meet their liquidity needs by borrowing against the value of their vehicles while retaining use of their vehicle during the term of the loan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goldman Sachs controversies</span>

Goldman Sachs controversies are the controversies surrounding the American multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs. The bank and its activities have generated substantial controversy and legal issues around the world and is the subject of speculation about its involvement in global finance and politics. In a widely publicized story in Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi characterized Goldman Sachs as a "great vampire squid" sucking money instead of blood, allegedly engineering "every major market manipulation since the Great Depression."

References

  1. ↑ "Bally Total Fitness Holding (BLLY:OTC): Stock Quote and Company Profile". Bloomberg Businessweek . Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Chaline, Eric (2015). The Temple of Perfection: A History of the Gym. Reaktion Books. ISBN   9781780234793 . Retrieved 2018-06-02.
  3. ↑ Meyers, Lawrence (September 16, 2005). "Bally Totally Unfit: Part 1". The Motley Fool. Retrieved 2011-12-01.
  4. ↑ Meyers, Lawrence (September 16, 2005). "Bally's Totally Unfit: Part 2". The Motley Fool. Retrieved 2011-12-01.
  5. ↑ "Lee S. Hillman Separation Agreement". Bally Total Fitness Holding Corporation. December 10, 2002. Retrieved 2011-12-01.
  6. ↑ "Bally Total Fitness Names Paul Toback President and Chief Executive Officer". Bally Total Fitness Holding Corporation. December 11, 2002. Retrieved 2011-12-01.[ permanent dead link ]
  7. 1 2 Goldman, Stuart (November 30, 2011). "Bally, LA Fitness Complete Sale of 171 Clubs". ClubIndustry.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
  8. 1 2 Goldman, Stuart (April 10, 2012). "Bally to Sell 39 Clubs to Blast Fitness". ClubIndustry.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2012.
  9. ↑ Goldman, Stuart (May 2, 2012). "Bally Completes Sale of 39 Clubs to Blast Fitness". ClubIndustry.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  10. ↑ Dowling, Julie (June 16, 2012). "Sprouts & Shutters: Goodbye Bally Total Fitness, Hello Danville Fit, Sushi Happy Hour and More". San Ramon Patch. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  11. ↑ Goldman, Stuart (January 6, 2015). "Bally Total Fitness Down to Five Clubs in Operation". ClubIndustry.com. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  12. ↑ "24 Hour Fitness to Acquire 32 Bally Total Fitness Clubs". 24 Hour Fitness. December 9, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  13. ↑ Goldman, Stuart (December 10, 2014). "24 Hour Fitness to Acquire 32 Bally Total Fitness Clubs". ClubIndustry.com. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Bally's Members upset after closure". WHAM ABC 13. December 31, 2014. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Bally's Members upset after closure". WHAM ABC 13. October 26, 2016. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Bally Total Fitness products" . Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Bally Total Fitness Chapter 11 Petition" (PDF). PacerMonitor. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  18. 1 2 Marco, Meg (August 1, 2007). "Sinking Ship: Bally Total Fitness Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy". The Consumerist. Archived from the original on October 22, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Bally's to sell its 16 Toronto sites". Boston.com. Associated Press. August 25, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Bally Total Fitness Files Again for Bankruptcy". The New York Times. December 3, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Bally Total Fitness files for bankruptcy". CTV News. 2008-12-03. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  22. ↑ Meyers, Lawrence (December 3, 2004). "Bally's Bully Tactics Backfire". The Motley Fool. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  23. ↑ "Bally's Customers Hope To Exercise Their Rights". Archived from the original on 2008-09-27. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
  24. ↑ "Consumer Complaints lead to Health Club Sales Reform (New York Attorney General's Office)". Archived from the original on 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2011-12-01.
  25. 1 2 Drew Faber
  26. ↑ Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. v. Faber, 29 F. Supp. 2d 1161 (C.D. Calif. 1998)
  27. ↑ Meyers, Lawrence (March 8, 2005). "Bally's Totally Rotten Report". The Motley Fool. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  28. ↑ Dougherty, Geoff (2005-02-09). "Bally ex-CEO, ex-CFO said responsible for accounting flaws; 2 other execs fired". Chicago Tribune.
  29. ↑ U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Litigation Release No. 20470 / February 28, 2008 "Securities and Exchange Commission v. Bally Total Fitness Holding Corporation", Civ. 08-00348 (HHK) (Judge Kennedy) (D.D.C. filed February 28, 2008), "Bally Total Fitness Settles Financial Fraud Charges With SEC"
  30. ↑ Norris, Floyd (December 18, 2009). "Ernst to Pay the S.E.C. $8.5 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  31. ↑ Wernau, Julie (December 18, 2009). "Ernst & Young settles charges in Bally Total Fitness fraud". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
  32. ↑ "SEC Charges Former CFO and Controller for roles in accounting violations at Bally Total Fitness". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. December 17, 2009. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
  33. ↑ Repko, Melissa (June 9, 2010). "Bally Total Fitness Accused of Sending Fake 'Past Due' Notices". The Dallas Morning News . Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.