As workers began to return to their offices amid the pandemic recovery, employees at Life Time Fitness (LTH) locations noticed a trend — customers working in health club lobbies.
Chairman James O’Reilly told Yahoo Finance Live, “We were scratching our heads – there has to be a better way to serve these people.”
In response, the company, which operates more than 160 gyms in the United States and Canada, launched Life Time Work, coworking spaces in or near their health clubs (think of it as a kind of WeWork-out ). The company currently has nine locations across the country, including Minneapolis, Miami, Chicago and Houston, and has two more locations in the works, slated to open later this year.
Membership in Time Life Work Clubs starts at $400 per month (depending on location) and includes gym membership and access to lounge and open-concept workspaces. “These are unassigned seats, very social in nature, so there’s a nice energy, especially for people who might otherwise be working from home,” O’Reilly said. Coffee, wifi, tech support, private phone rooms, and parking are also part of the package, and private office spaces are available for an additional fee.
“A lot of times people start the day with a workout and can go for lunch in the afternoon and then end their day with a sauna or a spa service, and it’s that kind of smooth back and forth. which makes a really good combination,” O says Reilly.
A year into the concept, O’Reilly said business was booming. “We believe that this activity can evolve very quickly. We were cautious and very measured given what was happening in the world of work, where people are going to work in the future. As the dust settles, we see an acceleration over the next year to become a much bigger company than we are today,” he said.
O’Reilly said the clientele was vast. “We have everything from Fortune 500 companies to independent operator to agile entrepreneurs, so it’s a wide range of people who all come to us for this enhanced work experience we provide.”
And what’s more? There is pickleball. O’Reilly says Life Time plans to become the No. 1 destination for the nation’s fastest growing sport, with more than 500 courts by the end of the year. “We think it’s an incredibly exciting proposition and obviously we’re into that trend.”
Dave Briggs is a presenter for Yahoo Finance Live. Follow him on Twitter at @davebriggstv.
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