Local gym buy out causes turmoil in community

By Narda Sigala

WOODSTOCK, Ga. – Following the buyout of the Gold’s Gym by Onelife Fitness many Kennesaw State University students who were members with the franchise are opting to find new gym environments due to overcrowding.

On Nov. 1, 2022, Onelife Fitness announced that they would be acquiring the location and building of Gold’s Gym in Woodstock. The deal had been in the works and rumors had been circling within the Gold’s community in the few months leading to the transaction. They announced the transition to their Instagram followers through a post on their account, Onelifefit. The post highlights that this is Onelife’s 14th location in the Atlanta region and 51st overall. This deal has since led to the displacement and disruption of many KSU students who were members of the Gold’s community.

The displacement refers to many students having to find new employment after Onelife cut pays drastically after the first official day. This came as a surprise to employees who had been assured by previous management that their wages would be honored. This left a lot of employees displaced due to rent and other bills forcing them to find a new job to make ends meet. Christopher Perez worked at Gold’s for 3 years while also attending KSU and said that “as college students, many of us look for job security, so when pay gets cut so badly and hours shifted, it literally means I can’t meet billing dates for rent and school payments. It got really weird.” Since the transition, over 65% of original Gold’s Gym employees have left due to pay cuts and the change of opportunities.

 The change has also caused many clients to end their memberships with the gym due to overcrowding. There are multiple gyms in surrounding areas under the Onelife Fitness name, with the Crabapple and Holly Springs locations being nearest to the new Woodstock addition. Alexis Pardee, a member of the previous Gold’s franchise and student at KSU was surprised to see the buyout take a negative effect and said that “many people thought it would be cool for people to be able to go to multiple gyms, but now it seems like all the locations are consistently busy.” With new traffic coming in from surrounding Onelife locations, there are various issues with the facility not being able to accommodate such large numbers at once.

Many are also citing the struggle to find proper equipment available, as well as a lack of space to comfortably move and exercise freely as reasons for their departure. Michael Dempsey, a student at KSU and member of the gym said, “When it was first happening, it honestly sounded really cool and like a good thing for members, but now it’s impossible to work out with being stuck here for like 3 hours.” This seems to be a common theme for a lot of the college students that are having to leave this gym to find other gyms in the area that will better suit their needs.

The previous owner of the Golds franchise sold while trying to keep members and their needs in mind. The more prominent parts of the deal included $1.5 million in renovations. According to an article on the OneLife Fitness Website about the new Woodstock location, there are many new renovations in mind. Some of the bigger amenities being added are turf training areas, three more boutique studios, Olympic lifting platforms, recovery equipment and new filtration system. These are many of the different amenities that can be found at other current Onelife locations.        

In an article by Shopping Center Business about the new Onelife location, it says that US Fitness Holdings acquired the previous Gold’s Gym building in Woodstock and it is currently the biggest of the Onelife locations in the Atlanta area. The location can be found off of Highway 92, making it an appealing location for Woodstock residents.  The sports club measures to be a 69,000-square-foot sports club and will be undergoing renovations and construction in the following months.

In a News Wire Article, it has been said that the first 90 days will be used to convert memberships and integrate the current systems of Onelife and previous Gold’s Gym accounts to operate seamlessly. According to Onelife officials, there are plans for construction of the club to begin in February. They do not plan on closing down but will be tearing down walls and reconstructing to build a more appealing base for the structure of new areas in the gym.

            Onelife officials hope to make the gym a more profitable business under the Onelife fitness name.According to an article on their website that talks about the story and origin of the company, the founders and brothers John and Kirk Galiani only hope to provide an environment where members are receiving top notch services and facilities with affordable pricing. Currently there are 51 locations in the United State and for the year 2023, there are five new locations to open in Georgia. They hope in future years to continue growing their brand and business by acquiring more locations.