elements group began a limited sale stock in our parent company last month, allowing outside investors, franchisees, as well as our own members to share in the impressive growth of the international fitness and lifestyle brand. A private stock offering is different from the publicly traded kind, each investor must meet certain financial criterion, and receive a several hundred page prospectus, which details the brands extensive growth strategy over the next 5 years. An integral part of the worldwide expansion of elements involves acquisitions as well as the development of company-owned locations, strategically creating one of the strongest fitness brands to date. We have also created (to my knowledge) the only fitness-oriented investment fund, with our Leisure Growth Fund product.

Over the past 4 years, we have positioned elements as a lifestyle - more than just a fitness club, elements is about a healthy, balanced way of life. The brand offers a complete experience to consumers, including popular fitness centers, diet and weight loss centers (BalanceD), acclaimed online magazine and media channel, All Star Fitness Advisory Board, and supplement /product line. Each quarter these offerings get further developed, and new additional announced, such as our soon to be launch “elements Broadcast Network” and “Channel Fit” launching in all club locations in 2009.

Our position as a lifestyle brand, and leading franchisor allows us to always be monitoring acitivities within the fitness industry, and give us a unique advantage in acquisitions - as we can carefully select only the best most qualified location to acquire and convert to elements clubs.

The stock offering and Leisure Growth Fund allow elements and our partner companies to pursue an aggressive acquisition and “rollup” strategy. One unique advantage we hold in this arena, is the value of the company-owned locations to further strengthen the performance of our franchised locations, using our core “hub and spoke” development approach. The far reaching effects of this model allow the company to be significantly stronger in operations than many others in the space, and allow a diverse scope of opportunities for our investors and partners.

It was a nice surprise this week to see Demi Moore visiting elements Alpharetta  on a recent film shoot in Atlanta.

We were holding an franchisee training event at the opulent 10,000 square foot spa/fitness club. As a full service salon, spa, and fitness club, the facility is able to deliver world-class services to a discerning clientele. In the beauty industry, it’s important to do it right - I frequently encourage fitness club owners to NOT include these amenities in their clubs, because our concern is quality control. In my 10 years as a health club owner and executive, we have taken the philosophy that clubs should only offer an amenity when they will be the best at it in their community. That philosophy has allowed elements for women to enjoy far greater success in the depth and revenue from our additional offerings.

elements and Moda spa come together to create a welcome presentation… from facials to fitness, it’s all there!

[caption id="attachment_296" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="elements for women"][/caption]

I spend the end of last week in Chicago at the Club Industry Fitness Trade Show. I love attending the major industry events… there is a great energy which exist among the club owners, trainers, vendors, and industry veterans. Although I was not speaking or presenting at this event, I did have a full schedule of meeting with elements franchisees and some great prospective owners. The fitness industry is in a major growth upswing, and the recent economic changes have made lease negotiation and construction at their lowest levels in years… overall an excellent time to get started in business - and from the high turnout it seems as if many investors agree with me.

This fall has been a very busy development period for elements for women, as we are investing into infrastructure that will allow our popular fitness brand to quickly expand into major Latin American markets - considered the next forefront of the industry. (I have to admit that trips to Buenos Aries and Rio sound much more exciting to me than Alberquerque and Kansas… maybe its my italian upbringing!) Club Industry also gave our team the opportunity to meet with potential international development partners and vendors.

[caption id="attachment_292" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="elements for women franchise clubs"][/caption]

Any reader of this journal knows that I (and elements) are big believers in ongoing training, and continuing education for all staff members - from our Club Directors to part time associates. A well trained staff exudes confidence, and simply performs better. elements for women franchising devotes considerable resources towards ongoing education and enhancements for our clubs.

This week, we began our Fall “Advanced Training Series.”  Sessions are held via web, via conference call-in, and/or workshop. Frequently, a mix of all three methods are used to maximize learning and interaction among participants. As the elements brand grows internationally, it is  really exciting for the entire team to see participation grow. Clubs from all geographic areas call in and get to interact with each other prior and after the sessions.  Our central team also creates post-training workshop exercises to be held at each local elements club. The post-sessions really help each local club take the information and implement it locally, and really pulls each team member from the club in with focus group type conversations, role playing exercises, and research exercises.  This “buy in” helps to facilitate a stronger team atmosphere at all levels. In my opinion, it has been instrumental in creating a community among our global team, and is helping to position elements as the leading fitness and lifestyle brand for women.

 

[caption id="attachment_119" align="alignright" width="231" caption="Discover Success with elements"][/caption]

It is no secret that we are moving into the next stage of development of (elements group) growth, which involves the acquisition of strategic facilities across the country. This acquisition strategy will quickly expand our footprint of fitness club operations, as well as provide excellent resources for franchise training -  further strengthening the overall operations of the brand. Since our team is headed by former Nike VP Bruce Fabel (CEO of elements), we have been attracting the attention of many serious investors, elements is quickly becoming positioned as one of America’s great franchises.

I was very happy to receive a call today wi from Jeff Hicks, CEO and Partner of the Crispin Porter + Bogusky ad agency. The agency, known as the “factory” is widely regarded as one of the top creative agencies in the world, with such noted key clients as Microsoft, Burger King, BMW. Although this was the first of many possible talks, the idea of having such a major ad agency on our team is certainly exciting. Next week I leave for the west coast to announce our expansion into California, and to begin fielding requests from potential franchisees and stockholders in the Western States.

Charlotte is a great example of a thriving American City…. not too big, not too small - and enough energy to make you feel as if you are in the middle of a happening place. Somewhat by accident, during the 1980’s all of the major US banks found themselves with a headquarters there. Now, the streets of this 2nd-largest Southern City are lined with 70 floor office towers, and a dizzying array of public gardens and street fountains.

The city is packed during the day with thousands of executive and corporate women. While the competition from local health club operators is high, elements occupies a envieable market niche - we are only national upscale fitness brand for women. Since elements opened in Charlotte 2 years ago, we had caused two smaller fitness clubs, including Curves to close their doors, and acquired their membership bases. In general, it is very tough for these “microclubs” to compete against full-service women’s concepts, such as elements, as their members get bored very quickly. Member retention is an ongoing, and significant dilemma, for fitness center under 1,000 square feet. It is simply common sense… members are intelligent people, they are looking to improve the way they look… with only one service option - the circuit workout - a member will alwyas plateau, or simply get bored. Amenities such as treadmills, cardio, personal training, and classes foster social interaction, and offer diverse options for members, resulting in a higher retention rate.

After weeks of market analysis, Our team landed in Charlotte last week to announced our relaunch and expansion plan for the market, which I will detail later this week… [subscribe now] to receive this blog in your inbox.

[caption id="attachment_93" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="get-beach-ready-at-elements-for-women-fitness-centers-campaign"][/caption]

Getting Beach Ready

victoria-motivates elements living online magazine and media channel is now boasting a reach of nearly 3 million viewers monthly. Our magazine features great content, expert advice from our All Star Advisory Board, daily tips, and inspiration.

We have recently added video as the newest dimension of the elements living experience. The following clip features Olympic Rower Victoria Draper, shot in site in Santa Monica. Do you see what a difference the video adds? I think it tremendously enhances the personality of the media channel.

We use the elements living media channel as a tool to help create awareness for the elements “lifestyle.”

Members and prospective guests for elements clubs, BalanceD Diet clubs, and BalanceD online all receive complimentary subscriptions to elements living magazine, as well as motivational emails sent to their inbox.

The magazine allows the elements brand to remain “front of mind” with our consumers, and also substantially adds to the well-rounded lifestyle experience for our members and guests. Soon, an online store will be added to showcase a select line of hand picked fitness tools, accessories, and top tier weight loss and supplement lines.

elements is the only fitness brand to offer such a complete media “backbone” to support the franchisees and club members, we are truly delivering a complete lifestyle experience.

We were very excited this week to formally announce Bruce Fabel as the new CEO of elements for women. Selecting the perfect CEO for an organization is no easy task, my search lasted nearly one year, and began with a relatively short list of hand-picked names.

To me, it was essential that our top executive possessed the experience, leadership, and knowledge to take the elements and BalanceD brand from 41 locations to 800. Our CEO also needed to have the ability to relate to many types of people, in many types of situations. I was immediately impressed with Bruce. His references were impeccable - having worked with the likes of Donald Trump, Steven Spielberg, and Calvin Klein. He conveyed class, professionalism, but also a warm and inviting persona which I knew would be essential in building elements at the fundamental grass-roots and staffing levels.

As elements and BalanceD Diet continue to explode internationally, we have continued to invest into leadership to ensure that our executive team remains the leader in the industry. We will soon be announcing two of the largest names in the beauty and leisure industries as the newest additions to our Board of Directors. The elements board is quickly becoming a collection of who’s-who in business and media (something that I am delighted about).

I have been asked for many of the details of Bruce’s background, and 5 year vision plan for elements for women. Please find the text from the news release below, and business announcements posted online.

MIAMI, FL - elements, the upscale fitness and living brand, announces the addition of leading global entrepreneur Bruce Fabel to their corporate team. A former Vice President of Nike Global Retail, Mr. Fabel will fill the role of Chief Executive Officer as the nationally-recognized women’s health and wellness brand grows from 21 to 320 units globally, and launches a multi-million dollar weight loss brand, BalanceD, with 800 planned retail locations and robust interactive website.

Mr. Fabel joins elements after acting as Vice President of Nike Global Retail, where he led a comprehensive global expansion of Nikes retail market share through the opening of 150 Niketown and Nike Outlet stores worldwide. Recruited from Nike by Calvin Klein Inc., he became executive Vice President of Global Retail and managed the expansion of the multi-billion dollar Calvin Klein brand into European, Asian and American markets by successfully completing 66 licensed stores.

Mr. Fabel was also integral in the creation and design of Warner Bros. Studio Stores throughout the U.S. and Europe as Vice President of Retail Development. This included the real estate construction rollout of 156 stores over a period of five years, as well as the 40,000-square foot flagship locations in New York City and London.

In addition to his strong management background, creativity and proven track record of creating and implementing successful marketing and growth strategies, Mr. Fabel also brings an outstanding record of successful and profitable business expansions and global brand development. Under Mr. Fabel’s leadership, elements plans to increase industry market dominance, accelerate rollout of franchised locations in premium US and international cities, launch “BalanceD™”, a major online and retail diet brand, as well as a developing company-owned locations in key urban markets.

For more information on Bruce Fabel or the elements for women clubs and brand, visit www.elementsforwomen.com and www.elementsliving.tv, or our online diet at www.balanceyourelements.com