I wanted to reconnect with you with respect to the presentation earlier this month about our uptick in complaints of overcrowding and the lack of equipment available to our members, especially during peak hours. The consultants did a nice job of laying out the current situation, identifying some alternatives to alleviate pressure and recommended one feasible option that Fitness Plus should pursue. In summary, their recommendation addresses our lack of efficient use of our existing space and to reconfigure our existing facility to better utilize the space and address our members concerns about a lack of equipment availability. I wanted to give you a short summary of the problems Fitness Plus is facing and the option(s) I feel should be pursued.
Club Facility Usage
Problem Identification
Explosive growth is the Greensboro area has fed the growth of our membership. As a result, the facility is virtually “busting at its seams” during peak hours and as a result has fueled a sharp increase in customer dissatisfaction. The vast majority of complaints are focused in the Nautilus, Aerobics and cardio areas. As stated above, the complaints focus around the lack of availability of equipment and the overcrowding during peak times. As the consultants suggested, a capacity analysis was performed in order to determine how to best address the problem. The summary follows.
The analysis broke down our specific equipment utilization rates and in summary, we are averaging a 69% utilization rate across all 6 areas that we offer. This leaves the operation with a cushion of 31% to consider in expanding our operations at the current location is we choose to do so.
However, I would proceed with the caveat, that we do not want to utilize all 31% as it would lead to little room for growth at the current site if the future should continue at its current rapid growth phase due to the unavailability of buildable land.
We do need to act fast on a...