Getbig.com: American Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure
Getbig Main Boards => Gossip & Opinions => Topic started by: abz on March 15, 2007, 04:10:49 PM
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Gym operator Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. (BFT.N: Quote, Profile , Research) on Thursday said it has may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors if it is unable to restructure it's debt.
The company said it has $45 million in cash and $827 million in outstanding debt.
Chicago-based Bally also said it told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it is unable to file its annual report for 2006.
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Bally's is fucking a hardcore place to train ::)
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Sounds like the mgt team at Bally's is a bunch of freaking idiot's.
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Why couldn't this shit happen to Planet Fitness? :(
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Sounds like the mgt team at Bally's is a bunch of freaking idiot's.
<< The fitness club chain also said membership collections have continued to fall through the first 11 weeks of this year, a trend that will continue "at least" through 2008 >>
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/070315/ballytotalfitness_bankruptcy.html?.v=3
BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
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where am I going to lift ?
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good riddance >:(
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where am I going to lift ?
You lift? ???
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Why couldn't this shit happen to Planet Fitness? :(
It will.
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Did Bally's expand too quickly in 2004-2005, the false real estate boom?
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To anyone in the fitness industry this is not new news....Bally's has been in debt for years and everyone knew there was no way they could get out....
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ballys had a few scams going,, join for only 19 dollars a month.. but unless you read the 10th page of the fine print contract, you wont realize after 2 months they start charging 80 a month for the next 2 years.
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It will.
How do you figure????...Planet Fitness are all independently owned not a corporation and they have an excellent marketing strategy also...Each Planet Fitness would have to go bankrupt independently per personal ownership not as a whole...You are an expert...Right???
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i love planet fitness. when one opend up down the road from my powerhouse it was the greatest thing, all the fags and old woman left
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i love planet fitness. when one opend up down the road from my powerhouse it was the greatest thing, all the fags and old woman left
Exactly...Planet Fitness is so successful because they market to around 80% of the population...(Most of the people that are not really serious about their fitness) Also they have cheap rates to boot...There is no better marketing than selling a bunch of gym memberships to people that don't workout seriously, that can afford it and that will never use the gym equipment enough to wear it down....
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yup, and i used to go to a golds that was split up into 2 sections.. they had a big room with nautolis equiptment and light dumbbels for the older people and stuff.. the other side you could use chalk and had heavy db's. caters to both types
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yup, and i used to go to a golds that was split up into 2 sections.. they had a big room with nautolis equiptment and light dumbbels for the older people and stuff.. the other side you could use chalk and had heavy db's. caters to both types
I ran a gym in that style before...Needless to say I was making no money off the powerlifters/bodybuilders(Only because there were so few of them) so I shut that section down and turned it into a woman's circuit training area...Business got much better after that...Go figure....
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Bally's is a nice place to workout but i used to work for them and it is one of the biggest scammers in the industry. Just for your info. when you sign up for one of those boxes (drawings) that says" win a year on it. You fill it out and NO ONE wins a year and EVERYONE wins a two-week pass, they get you into the facilty to "DRAW and SEE" if you win the year, well you dont you get two weeks free OR you can sign up now and trade your "free two week pass" for a NO Start up fee , if you dont sign up then, you have to (for whatever reason) give them your social security number (you woudnt even believe how many people gave it with no questions) and they "the Sales Manager" would end up making up fake contracts and RUINING there credit for a LONG time----you may not even know you even have a contract for a year or two,---the club gets extra money or bonus for the more people they sign, legal or NOt....It was the most unhonest establishment i have ever seen--So i stay MILES clear of Bally, its unfortunate because I liked the gym, it had good equipment...plus they scammed the employees, they would always pay you a day later than suppossed to, because the longer they have your money to invest and move, the more millions and billions they make, if your supposed to get paid on friday, ITS ALMOST ALWAYS on sat or monday....DO NOT WORK THERE, they will try to mess your credit up too, take it from me.
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i love planet fitness. when one opend up down the road from my powerhouse it was the greatest thing, all the fags and old woman left
So I take it you train at Planet Fitness now too?
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Makes sense, Bally's just contacted a co-worker of mine and offered him some type of crazy discount to "come back". I wanna say 45 bucks a year. I may be off but it was around the same price as other fitness centers monthly rates. Personally, I'd do a '"Daddywaddy special" and work out with cinder blocks in my garage before I set foot in a Bally's.
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It will.
Please elaborate.
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So I take it you train at Planet Fitness now too?
:(
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amen..i hate the atmosphere there :)
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It will.
I got a lot of respect for your opinion on bodybuilding. But I am in the industry, your comment is very far from the truth.
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Bally's is out due to the way they run their business. My wife was a trainer there (not long) a few years back. They dont do personal training, they find suckers and take their money. They emphisized making money and not getting client results. Because if the client saw slow results they would need more training and hense more $ for ballys. A shitty way to do business. Im actually surprized they are going under with all the tv ads that suck people in. I know so many people with an unused ballys membership.
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The ballys pricing model is a total joke and can be a turn-off once the clients understand what is happening. In essence you are taking out a loan to pay for the membership. This loan is reported against your credit score. Why would anyone want their gym membership affecting their credit score.
I have a bally's memberhip but I haven't been there in over a year!
Several years ago, I bought a membership from someone that wanted to sell his. His memberhip was already paid up and he had an $8/month maintenance fee. He said that he wasn't into working out and got it as a gift from his wife at the time. Since he had to plans of ever going there he decided to sell it
I paid a $100 transfer to ballys and paid him $250 for it. Whenever I hear of people paying $50+ per month for bally I truly feel sorry for them. Most Ballys are shit holes with inferior equipment and staff..in the black neighborhoods it is even worse.
I work in manhattan and change jobs every couple of months. Also most job require some travelling. Most time there is a Bally's in the general area, so I can always find a place to work out
I am now a current member NYSC..probably one of the better gyms out there.
also I have one of the older Bally's membership cards without the picture on it. I usually let me friends borrow it, all they have to say is "I left my walllet at home with my ID in it, I didn't think that I would need my drivers license to work out". So for $96 I make sure that I get my money's worth out of them
this is my current gym
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I hope Bally's fcuking collaspe and never recover.
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HAHAHAHAH. The change in their stock is a BIG -52.26% just so far today.
Things are not looking good for them. Hope no one has one of their special 3 years membership contracts.
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Fcuk Bally's. I hope they close the entire chain >:(
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a golds gym opened here and the ballys which is close by has been sending all sorts of shit out to try and get people to go there. last week, i got 3 seperate advertisements for deals for joining there. the "best" one was $22 for a whole year. they must really be in trouble if they are only wanting that.
when i was in the army, the army gyms had good shit but always had groups of people talking and taking up too much space. so i went to ballys. when i went to iraq, i went there to stop payments on my membership because why pay if im going to be around the world, right? there is a law actually that forces cell phone companies, fitness clubs, etc to not penalize you, or make you pay the monthly fees if you are in a deploying military unit. well, the manager at that place wanted to argue and said how i couldnt shut it off because then anyone who wanted to do that could. and i said, well there is a law that says you have to. and she played dumb for a while but finally gave in. fuck that place.
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HAHAHAHAH. The change in their stock is a BIG -52.26% just so far today.
9 years ago, it was trading in the mid-30s.
Today: 0.87!
BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
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FWIW, a prognosis from the Yahoo message board devoted to the stock...
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How I think this will play out:
1) In 60 days, without a sign the hedge funds can find a buyer, stock will trade sub-$1.
2) Citing creditors not extending credit and cash flow crunch, we will wake up one morning to find that BFT filed Ch. 11.
3) New debtor in possession financing of about $500 million will be put in place.
4) About 10-20% of staff will be laid off. Management will get fat retention bonuses. BK judge will approve approximately $1-2 million per month in legal and advisory fees, sucking cash, 24-36 million out of this thing before it emerges.
5) Using BK court, they will cancel approximately 20% of existing leases in unprofitable locations, moving decent equipment to other stores, and selling rest for nothing. These landlords will join debtholders in line with hands out.
6) Also using BK court protection, they can cancel any contracts that are not favorable. There goes about 25% of their membership paying less than $15-20 per month. These people who paid huge up front fees are screwed, but so be it. This gets rid of the most heavy users of clubs, who pay the least, and removes overcrowding in busier locations, which is a good thing.
7) After 18 months, they emerge from bankruptcy. Shareholders, as is almost ALWAYS the case, get nothing, and shares are cancelled. All of the credtiors, including both classes of non-secured debt, receive over $.80 per dollar in new stock, which will trade under a new symbol. The debtor in possession is paid off with about $400 million in secured debt.
8) Management gets paid even more money for successfully taking the company through BK, including significant portions of restricted stock and options. Company is leaner, with significantly less debt that doesn't come due for at least 5-10 years, and without crappy store locations or heavy-using low-paying legacy members.
9) Company announces they are spending $100-250 million renovating old stores and rolling out a new marketing/branding compaign to rebuild membership.
Boys, it happens all the time. Shareholders are, in my humble opinion, toast at this point. The company all but said this in their ass covering last press release. I'm selling all my shares, and buying the bonds. I plan to be a shareholder in the NEW company.
It isn't right, and some people should go to jail, especially Toback and especially the people before him that took a profitable company, loaded it with debt and bloat, and then left when "things didn't pan out". Not fair, but it is the way the game is played.
Good luck to all longs and shorts. Do your own due dilligence, one way or the other.
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It looks as if "Salsa Guy" (a 6'3" lanky Latino dude, who teaches a salsa/merengue/mambo class on Tuesday, at the Bally where I train) may be looking for work.
My contract (a Christmas present from 1991) got paid off way back in 1994. Since then, I just made the monthly payments until 2000. When I moved in 2005, I renewed my Premier Plus Membership, 2 years, $198, which is up this June.
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The ballys pricing model is a total joke and can be a turn-off once the clients understand what is happening. In essence you are taking out a loan to pay for the membership. This loan is reported against your credit score. Why would anyone want their gym membership affecting their credit score.
I have a bally's memberhip but I haven't been there in over a year!
Several years ago, I bought a membership from someone that wanted to sell his. His memberhip was already paid up and he had an $8/month maintenance fee. He said that he wasn't into working out and got it as a gift from his wife at the time. Since he had to plans of ever going there he decided to sell it
I paid a $100 transfer to ballys and paid him $250 for it. Whenever I hear of people paying $50+ per month for bally I truly feel sorry for them. Most Ballys are shit holes with inferior equipment and staff..in the black neighborhoods it is even worse.
The one where I started training in late 2005 is in a black neighborhood. And, quite frankly, it's one of the best in the area where I lived. Most of the brothers are from the islands (Haiti, Jamaica, etc.). Plus, there's a healthy dose of Latino members (mostly female).
There are a few local-level bodybuilders who train there, as well. They have two good power racks to use for the squat and nearly all of the benches and racks are bolted to the floor in the weight area.
Unlike some clubs, that a few members here mention, this one has dumbbells over 100 lbs. (OK, so they only go up to 105....and they're the Ivanko rubber-coated ones).
The only drawback (which really isn't one for me) is that there's no pool. But, I don't swim after training anymore, anyway; it puts me to sleep.
I work in manhattan and change jobs every couple of months. Also most job require some travelling. Most time there is a Bally's in the general area, so I can always find a place to work out
I am now a current member NYSC..probably one of the better gyms out there.
also I have one of the older Bally's membership cards without the picture on it. I usually let me friends borrow it, all they have to say is "I left my walllet at home with my ID in it, I didn't think that I would need my drivers license to work out". So for $96 I make sure that I get my money's worth out of them
Do you still have the blue and white card, with the Bally stickman logo inside the blue circle? I had it until 1999, when it got stolen.
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The one where I started training in late 2005 is in a black neighborhood. And, quite frankly, it's one of the best in the area where I lived. Most of the brothers are from the islands (Haiti, Jamaica, etc.). Plus, there's a healthy dose of Latino members (mostly female).
There are a few local-level bodybuilders who train there, as well. They have two good power racks to use for the squat and nearly all of the benches and racks are bolted to the floor in the weight area.
Unlike some clubs, that a few members here mention, this one has dumbbells over 100 lbs. (OK, so they only go up to 105....and they're the Ivanko rubber-coated ones).
The only drawback (which really isn't one for me) is that there's no pool. But, I don't swim after training anymore, anyway; it puts me to sleep.
Do you still have the blue and white card, with the Bally stickman logo inside the blue circle? I had it until 1999, when it got stolen.
the Bally's in Flatbush brooklyn is similar to working out in rikers island prison
my card is tan colored
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the Bally's in Flatbush brooklyn is similar to working out in rikers island prison
my card is tan colored
That was the one issued after they changed the logo from the blue-and-white stickman to the red square with the "B" in the middle.
Rikers' Island prison? YIKES!!!!
The one where I started in 2005 , located in Orlando, Florida, is a tad better than a prison.
;D
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It's a scary day for bodybuilders when Ballys has been outgayed by places like PF to the point of shutting down.
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when i looked at ballys i was quickly turned off.. i know a rat when i smell one.. they wanted 120 dollars for an initiation fee. i was like wtf is that? he was like it gets you started. i said, so i pay for every month and an initiation fee?so im basically just handing you 120 bucks for nothing. then once i saw the size of the contract and all the fine print i said see ya.. went to a powerhouse and they give me a free lifetime membership cuz i was a cop.
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when i looked at ballys i was quickly turned off.. i know a rat when i smell one.. they wanted 120 dollars for an initiation fee. i was like wtf is that? he was like it gets you started. i said, so i pay for every month and an initiation fee?so im basically just handing you 120 bucks for nothing. then once i saw the size of the contract and all the fine print i said see ya.. went to a powerhouse and they give me a free lifetime membership cuz i was a cop.
Hahahaha!! Better luck next time, assholes!!
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Last Trade: 0.75
Trade Time: 3:59PM ET
Change: Down -1.24 (-62.31%)
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Personally, I'd do a '"Daddywaddy special" and work out with cinder blocks in my garage
hahaha, nice job, you're on fire today