Getbig Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness Forums
Getbig Main Boards => Gossip & Opinions => Topic started by: TK on June 30, 2011, 10:03:22 AM
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So the reports from the members at Golds Gym Venice is that it is going to be closing down in 2 years. Word has it that Google has purchased all of the land, buildings in the two city blocks including the Golds Gym building and its parking lot and has told them that they will not renew their lease.
Is this true? What is going to happen to the beloved icon? Where can they relocate in Venice?
Any word on this?
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Had not heard that... More eye candy at Venice but the guys at Hollywood are more available. ;)
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it's true... they are leaving like other bodybuilding properties in california...
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Had not heard that... More eye candy at Venice but the guys at Hollywood are more available. ;)
Some hot women at the west Hollywood one also.
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Gold's Gym Venice died since the early 90! The hardcore crowd of bodybuilders that populated the Mecca has long gone! It has been already 15 years that Gold's Gym Venice is just an overcrowded circus of local freaks with overrated and overpaid personal trainers!
You can still spot same pro-bodybuilder and same celebrities but the hardcore athmosfere has long gone. Most of the member now at God's Gym Venice have only one interest when they walk to the gym : showing their latest outfit and Ipod in the mist of their workout with their overpaid/overrated personal trainer and try to socialize with sameone who they think is important or rich!
Sad what Gold's Gym Venice has became and maybe is good thing that will be closing down soon! :'(
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Golds got bad when fell to corporate greed. Not that there's anything wrong with that, its just it was mismanaged.
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Google at Home in Venice Los Angeles
January 27, 2011 By Jane Peters
Los Angeles is an extremely desirable place to live. Just look at the weather going on around the country right now. Google also loves Los Angeles and just leased 100,000 sq. ft. of space in buildings in Venice, CA. One of them is the Frank Gehry Binoculars Building, previously leased by the advertising giant Chiat/Day.
This lease is part of a major expansion by Google in Southern California and great news for the Los Angeles real estate market and the employment sector, as the company is plannng to hire around 6,000 new employees this year. Google is fighting for top talent with rivals such as Facebook, Twitter and the like.
Why is Google expanding in the Venice Los Angeles area?
Venice Los Angeles properties are extremely close to the beaches with 300 days of sun to take advantage of them. Being close to the entertainment industry and access to the technical know-how of graduates from local universities doesn’t hurt either.
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Google at Home in Venice Los Angeles
January 27, 2011 By Jane Peters
Los Angeles is an extremely desirable place to live. Just look at the weather going on around the country right now. Google also loves Los Angeles and just leased 100,000 sq. ft. of space in buildings in Venice, CA. One of them is the Frank Gehry Binoculars Building, previously leased by the advertising giant Chiat/Day.
This lease is part of a major expansion by Google in Southern California and great news for the Los Angeles real estate market and the employment sector, as the company is plannng to hire around 6,000 new employees this year. Google is fighting for top talent with rivals such as Facebook, Twitter and the like.
Why is Google expanding in the Venice Los Angeles area?
Venice Los Angeles properties are extremely close to the beaches with 300 days of sun to take advantage of them. Being close to the entertainment industry and access to the technical know-how of graduates from local universities doesn’t hurt either.
problem is, it has the most lazy bums per capita too
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I guess that will doom Max Muscle and Firehouse as well.
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Powerball is raising the price of a lotto ticket to $2 in Jan 2012. Starting jackpot will go from 20 million to 40 million. Hit lotto, buy back building and then re-open the gay bath house known as Gold's Venice.
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Had not heard that... More eye candy at Venice but the guys at Hollywood are more available. ;)
fag ;D
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Just like other prime real estate in the US that has fallen on hard times, some major entity comes in and makes a big change.
And there's no better location within the LA basin where a phenominal change can occur other than the Venice Beach location.
A lot of it is run down and ready for a major change and that beach area is ideal for the big money investors.
Many years ago, Venice Beach was prime property for the rich Hollywood crowd with its Venice type canals and beachfront homes. But over the years most of that area has turned to shit and future development is ripe.
Eventually a gym type business will not be able to afford the cost per square foot that will eventaully prevail.
My most recent experience in this same regards was within the Long Beach area where a run-down section of the downtown/beach area was greatly enhanced .... but in this case that section of town needed businesses to open ... so they offered rental spaces at rock bottom prices. One of the Gold's Gyms took advantage of that location as well as a good number of prime restaurants and boutiques .... and business boomed and is now a big visitor attraction.
The same also within the 3rd Street Shopping Mall in Santa Monica.
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arnold nails the maid, now this.
i'm not sure how much more the BBing world can take.
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ohhh nooooo.
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I visited Golds in 1991, 2000, and 2004. I suppose when Mike and Ray Mentzer died so did the era of the huge musclemen at Golds. By 2004 my impression as a gym owner was that Golds Venice was trying to capture the wider fitness market and was doing exactly that. The gym seemed quite busy when I was there. I saw a couple of muscleheads as well.
It remains to be seen if they will seek premises that large in their new location. I never did like the 4 sections that gym had. Not a good layout by any means. It would be great if they put
similar equipment together instead of having areas as 'showrooms' for Nautilus, Flex, Hammer, Cybex, Life Fitness and so on. Years ago they had equipment installed for free because franchaisees would
visit that gym and select equipment from what they saw there. That is why all the calf machines were separated and this is not ideal for the hard core members or serious trainees. You can imagine having all arm machines together, all chest machines, etc. Would be great.
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Venice became gentrified long ago, certainly by mid 90s. True gym rats could no longer afford to live in Venice, so they moved elsewhere. There was a time where Gold's Venice was the only serious mega gym in town, but again since the 90s there have been dozens of such gyms throughout southern California. That and Gold's never bought the land they were on, it was only a matter of time that Gold's Venice would close.
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The moment Google bought it, it was going the way of the dinosaur. I give it LESS than two years. If you haven't yet, I'd make your pilgrimage to the Mecca, before the East Coast Mecca becomes the New Mecca.
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Yes, we have heard that Google bought the blocks where Gold's Venice is and told them they won't renew the lease, but nothin has trully official in print yet that I can find. Just lots of people talking about they need to find a new location in two years when Google starts to renovate the area.
That being said - Gold's Gym does not WANT to move - all is good in the location, it is one of the busiest gyms in the area, and tons of people go there. It is the mecca of bodybuilding, and people like to go there, just because it has history.
The historical aspect of it closing would be tough to many. Too many, if you are into the bodybuilding world, coming to Southern California and checking out Gold's Venice, eating at the Firehouse, and going to Muscle Beach is too cool.
It would be sad day for bodybuilding if Google forces Gold's Gym out of Venice.
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money talks and bullshyt walks......it will unfortunately come down to this
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Yes, we have heard that Google bought the blocks where Gold's Venice is and told them they won't renew the lease, but nothin has trully official in print yet that I can find. Just lots of people talking about they need to find a new location in two years when Google starts to renovate the area.
That being said - Gold's Gym does not WANT to move - all is good in the location, it is one of the busiest gyms in the area, and tons of people go there. It is the mecca of bodybuilding, and people like to go there, just because it has history.
The historical aspect of it closing would be tough to many. Too many, if you are into the bodybuilding world, coming to Southern California and checking out Gold's Venice, eating at the Firehouse, and going to Muscle Beach is too cool.
It would be sad day for bodybuilding if Google forces Gold's Gym out of Venice.
I don't think Google give a shit about the history of Gold's Gym Venice!
If they really bought the land you can be sure that the Gold's Gym Venice is gone for good!
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money talks and bullshyt walks......it will unfortunately come down to this
X2.
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Let's face it:
-Gold's Gym Venice is a shadow of what used to be!
-Only bums are left training at the Muscle Beach Pit right now!
-The Muscle Beach Bodybuilding contest is a shameful dispay of tatted outshaped bums!
-Venice Beach boardwalk is populated by dirty and stinky freaks and bums!
I remember the time when walking to Venice Beach was cool and beautiful peoples used to mix with the hippies and locals!
Nowdays is sad what Venice became : obese people with tatoo from the ghetto mix with the resident bums during the week end!
Every time I walk at the boardwalk down in Venice I can't spot a decent looking girl!
Maybe is a good thing that Google bought the land and Gold's Gym Venice will close down soon and maybe a clean up of the entire area of Venice is necessary!
Unfortunately all the good thing come to an end! :'(
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Google bought it all up so they will be sitting pretty after the 2012 disaster which is on its way.
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Google bought it all up so they will be sitting pretty after the 2012 disaster which is on its way.
;D ;D ;D ;D
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Golds got bad when fell to corporate greed. Not that there's anything wrong with that, its just it was mismanaged.
really? Nothing wrong with corporate greed, the same thing that torn down the once great USA.
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I plan to boycott Google until this madness ends. Brothers, sisters, who's with me? Rally at 10 pm tonight at the old town library!
I'm in!!
(furiously googling the address of the old town library and checking nearby restaurants and bars on goolge maps)
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I know Joe Weider will take his money to the grave with him, but it would be nice to see him set up a new gym in The Mecca along with a Bodybuilding Hall of Fame building.
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How much money has gone through that place and they never bought the fucking building?
How much rent did they paid since 1980 I wonder?
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Any further word on this?
Yes, there are some strange folks that work out here, but it has the best equipment of any gym in the area, so I'd hope that if it does close that they move to a different location nearby that can house all of the equipment because the alternatives in West LA are not good enough
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ehh...
Dumbbells, barbells, a few strength-training machines and some "cardio" equipment. This isn't 1984...there are a 1,000 places like this all over the country now.
Therefore, who really gives a shit. Let the dump close...fuck 'em.
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Had not heard that... More eye candy at Venice but the guys at Hollywood are more available. ;)
faggott
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June 30th...
seems like a long time ago. Why dredge this shit up?
Anybody that cares is probably too old to shed any tears over it. Maybe they can just go over to Muscle Beach and still be gay.
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Yes, we have heard that Google bought the blocks where Gold's Venice is and told them they won't renew the lease, but nothin has trully official in print yet that I can find. Just lots of people talking about they need to find a new location in two years when Google starts to renovate the area.
That being said - Gold's Gym does not WANT to move - all is good in the location, it is one of the busiest gyms in the area, and tons of people go there. It is the mecca of bodybuilding, and people like to go there, just because it has history.
The historical aspect of it closing would be tough to many. Too many, if you are into the bodybuilding world, coming to Southern California and checking out Gold's Venice, eating at the Firehouse, and going to Muscle Beach is too cool.
It would be sad day for bodybuilding if Google forces Gold's Gym out of Venice.
and where the hell is charles glass suppose to train his women? >:(
Plugs ;)
(http://img001.lazygirls.info/people/mindi_smith/mindi_smith_50366_g_122_985lo_hsfMw1k.sized.jpg)
(http://militaryfitnessusa.com/homepage/JENNYW~1.jpg)
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Just the 1% raping and pillaging, nothing to see here folks - Go about your business.
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Charles Glass on suicide watch
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Somebody say it ain`t so !!
(http://images.nymag.com/images/2/daily/2010/08/20100818_crybaby_190x190.jpg)
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I'm in!!
(furiously googling the address of the old town library and checking nearby restaurants and bars on goolge maps)
Me too.........lets go guys!!!
(http://hisvorpal.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/universal_frankenstein_-_angry_mob.jpg?w=500&h=332)
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it turned to shit when fat american women with bogus college degrees and a giant ego started training there
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I don't think Google give a shit about the history of Gold's Gym Venice!
That.
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ehh...
Dumbbells, barbells, a few strength-training machines and some "cardio" equipment. This isn't 1984...there are a 1,000 places like this all over the country now.
Therefore, who really gives a shit. Let the dump close...fuck 'em.
STFU
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That.
http://www.muscleweek.com/forum/index.php?topic=2601.0 (http://www.muscleweek.com/forum/index.php?topic=2601.0)
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STFU
Why don't you make me "STFU", Wet Willie?
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very intersting read as i dident no ...also funny as fck ;D
as always :)
thanks
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I visited Golds in 1991, 2000, and 2004. I suppose when Mike and Ray Mentzer died so did the era of the huge musclemen at Golds. By 2004 my impression as a gym owner was that Golds Venice was trying to capture the wider fitness market and was doing exactly that. The gym seemed quite busy when I was there. I saw a couple of muscleheads as well.
It remains to be seen if they will seek premises that large in their new location. I never did like the 4 sections that gym had. Not a good layout by any means. It would be great if they put
similar equipment together instead of having areas as 'showrooms' for Nautilus, Flex, Hammer, Cybex, Life Fitness and so on. Years ago they had equipment installed for free because franchaisees would
visit that gym and select equipment from what they saw there. That is why all the calf machines were separated and this is not ideal for the hard core members or serious trainees. You can imagine having all arm machines together, all chest machines, etc. Would be great.
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Hide's videos make Jay Cutler's look like The Lord of The Rings.
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Yes, we have heard that Google bought the blocks where Gold's Venice is and told them they won't renew the lease, but nothin has trully official in print yet that I can find. Just lots of people talking about they need to find a new location in two years when Google starts to renovate the area.
That being said - Gold's Gym does not WANT to move - all is good in the location, it is one of the busiest gyms in the area, and tons of people go there. It is the mecca of bodybuilding, and people like to go there, just because it has history.
The historical aspect of it closing would be tough to many. Too many, if you are into the bodybuilding world, coming to Southern California and checking out Gold's Venice, eating at the Firehouse, and going to Muscle Beach is too cool.
It would be sad day for bodybuilding if Google forces Gold's Gym out of Venice.
yea sounds like a vacation of a lifetime ::)
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if Golds Venice closes down where will Jerome Ferguson be able to prance around in his Daisy Dukes, assless chaps and muscle vests?
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if Golds Venice closes down where will Jerome Ferguson be able to prance around in his Daisy Dukes, assless chaps and muscle vests?
definitely not one of charles' clients.
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The end is near. Venice is a circus side show. Let em SWIM!!!
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thats a great machine..........really stresses the focus on the rear delts?
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Why don't you make me "STFU", Wet Willie?
Benny.....you are a sarcastic internet tough guy......you make such a foolish statement and then when I ask you to STFU.....you wonder why???
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It's a sad day for Camp Kikakee.
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Yes, we have heard that Google bought the blocks where Gold's Venice is and told them they won't renew the lease, but nothin has trully official in print yet that I can find. Just lots of people talking about they need to find a new location in two years when Google starts to renovate the area.
That being said - Gold's Gym does not WANT to move - all is good in the location, it is one of the busiest gyms in the area, and tons of people go there. It is the mecca of bodybuilding, and people like to go there, just because it has history.
The historical aspect of it closing would be tough to many. Too many, if you are into the bodybuilding world, coming to Southern California and checking out Gold's Venice, eating at the Firehouse, and going to Muscle Beach is too cool.
It would be sad day for bodybuilding if Google forces Gold's Gym out of Venice.
Good reason to finally go there as it may be gone forever soon.
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Looks like the dude gotta find a new home :'(
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Close it down It has a piece of shit for about 10 years now.
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ehh...
Dumbbells, barbells, a few strength-training machines and some "cardio" equipment. This isn't 1984...there are a 1,000 places like this all over the country now.
Therefore, who really gives a shit. Let the dump close...fuck 'em.
It has by far the best equipment of any gym I've ever trained at
I like to use free weights, but also like to mix in machines. They have by far the best machines of any gym. It was even better in the past before they replaced some of the old equipment. Most machines are designed very well.
Hopefully they can stay in the same place or move most if not all of their equipment to a new site.
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How much money has gone through that place and they never bought the fucking building?
How much rent did they paid since 1980 I wonder?
Maybe they never had an option to buy
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Benny.....you are a sarcastic internet tough guy......you make such a foolish statement and then when I ask you to STFU.....you wonder why???
No, I don't "wonder why." ::)
My statement wasn't "foolish" Wet Willie, and I really don't give a shit what your problem is.
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That's your whole problem.....you don't care much about anything....or at least that's what you want people to believe.
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So now the official date is June 30, 2014.
The worst-kept secret at Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach is that the gym is closing its doors for good when its lease expires on June 30, 2014. With its 45 years of history, this Los Angeles landmark was once the second most popular tourist attraction in the LA area after Disneyland, but alas, times have changed and the ‘Mecca of Bodybuilding’ is slowly transforming into the Mecca of Millionaires, or ‘Silicon Beach’ in techno-blog-speak.
According to former Gold’s Gym Venice owner Ed Connors, Google has bought the building and the surrounding real estate, with grand designs on walling off the streets and creating a SoCal campus to rival its Mountain View ‘university’. If this is accurate, Gold’s Gym appears to have dropped the ball, and with undeveloped real estate (and mandatory) in the area in short supply, the death of Gold’s Venice is but a foregone conclusion.
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So now the official date is June 30, 2014.
The worst-kept secret at Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach is that the gym is closing its doors for good when its lease expires on June 30, 2014. With its 45 years of history, this Los Angeles landmark was once the second most popular tourist attraction in the LA area after Disneyland, but alas, times have changed and the ‘Mecca of Bodybuilding’ is slowly transforming into the Mecca of Millionaires, or ‘Silicon Beach’ in techno-blog-speak.
According to former Gold’s Gym Venice owner Ed Connors, Google has bought the building and the surrounding real estate, with grand designs on walling off the streets and creating a SoCal campus to rival its Mountain View ‘university’. If this is accurate, Gold’s Gym appears to have dropped the ball, and with undeveloped real estate (and mandatory) in the area in short supply, the death of Gold’s Venice is but a foregone conclusion.
Source?
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Source?
Source is Jason Stern, who now lives in New York. Who probably got the story from Getbig and these threads. And so far, it is still just that - rumors, except for the lease part that runs out, in which they can renegotiate.
In June 2011, rumors went wild when apparently Google started to buy up two blocks of property around Gold's Gym Venice, including the parking lots and more. The rumor is that they want to start remodeling the area, and while that does not mean tearing down Gold's Gym Venice, it means that they may take their prized parking area to build a building, while eventually building underground parking. But that would take some time.
In effect, Gold's Gym lease runs out and they might lose their parking (which is across the street), and their rent might go up. The rumor is that can they or want to afford a drive up in rent while losing parking too?
Will they get rid of the gym? I dont think so. Will Gold's Gym decide not to renew on a higher rent for the area.... that is a different story. The question is - where can they go to if they do choose to elect to move.
The funny thing is that just now, the mainstream media is picking this up - will this has been a story on Getbig for 9 months. And even more interesting is that while it may have happened, there is no proof at all that Google purchased the area, nor wants to take the gym away. Except maybe charge a higher rent.
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Thanks for the detailed reply Ron, very interesting scenario.
Maybe it is time for a new mecca of bodybuilding in Venice, where bodybuilders are welcome and well catered for. Just sayin..........
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I'm friends with EC on FB- I'll get to the bottom of this- pun intended.
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Thanks for the detailed reply Ron, very interesting scenario. Maybe it is time for a new mecca of bodybuilding in Venice, where bodybuilders are welcome and well catered for. Just sayin..........
Golds Venice still takes care of the bodybuilders - a lot of people still go there, and enjoy it, although it is a little more corporate. Still a lot of photos and celebs go and work out. There are other hardcore gyms, aka Metroflex but that is 18 miles away in Long Beach, but one of the most hardcore gyms in Los Angeles area.
As for Gold's Gym - they are only getting strong in this area, with plans to build a few more in the upcoming year. Not corp Golds, and may be hard in Venice, and Gold's Gyms are going strong here in Los Angeles and vicinity.
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Didn't Planet Fitness buy over gold's a few years back?
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Golds Venice still takes care of the bodybuilders - a lot of people still go there, and enjoy it, although it is a little more corporate. Still a lot of photos and celebs go and work out. There are other hardcore gyms, aka Metroflex but that is 18 miles away in Long Beach, but one of the most hardcore gyms in Los Angeles area.
As for Gold's Gym - they are only getting strong in this area, with plans to build a few more in the upcoming year. Not corp Golds, and may be hard in Venice, and Gold's Gyms are going strong here in Los Angeles and vicinity.
Thanks Ron, but I think it is more than a little bit corporate. I understand their commercial reality, I just think they somewhat lost their identity along the way or forgot where they come from. It is still one of my favorite gyms in the world and has been a huge inspiration to me. In fact, if I had not hung out there so much in the early 90s, I would not be doing what I am today.
Thanks for the inspiration Golds.....
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http://9to5google.com/2012/05/08/google-purchases-iconic-golds-gym-in-venice-los-angeles-for-new-socal-campus/#7kuTy7eYQ3wBiko6.01 (http://9to5google.com/2012/05/08/google-purchases-iconic-golds-gym-in-venice-los-angeles-for-new-socal-campus/#7kuTy7eYQ3wBiko6.01)
:-\
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Link doesn't work!
Google vs. Gold’s Gym Update
by Jason Stern
The worst-kept secret at Gold’s Gym in Venice is that the gym is closing its doors for good when its lease expires on June 30, 2014. With its 45 years of history, this Los Angeles landmark was once the second most popular tourist attraction in the LA area after Disneyland, but alas, times have changed and the ‘Mecca of Bodybuilding’ is slowly transforming into the Mecca of Millionaires, or ‘Silicon Beach’ in techno-blog-speak. Perhaps lost on most bodybuilders is the painful irony of the proverbial pencil-neck geek getting sand kicked in his face by the muscular beach bully turning the tables and kicking the bodybuilders out of Venice Beach. While the new owners of Golds (GGI) were out there licensing the Gold’s name to create Wii video games for couch potatoes instead of renewing their lease at 360 Hampton Drive, Google was creating an empire and looking for a place to expand its empire. The result: Google Plus. Gold’s Minus.
Publicly, the gym management continues to emphasize (perhaps ‘misrepresent’ is a better word choice)
that Gold’s Gym isn’t going anywhere, but for those in the know, it has become painfully clear that the clock is ticking down to zero. According to former Gold’s Gym Venice owner Ed Connors, Google has bought the building and the surrounding real estate, with grand designs on walling off the streets and creating a SoCal campus to rival its Mountain View ‘university’. If this is accurate, Gold’s Gym appears to have dropped the ball, and with undeveloped real estate (and mandatory) in the area in short supply, the death of Gold’s Venice is but a foregone conclusion.
While some have predicted a move to nearby Culver City or Playa Del Rey, Gold’s already has franchisees in those areas and the geographic limitations of those franchise agreements would likely come into dispute if the most famous gym in the world were to relocate to their area. For the record, Ed Connors — the man who sold Gold’s to its current owners — is already eulogizing the gym he helped create: “It’s a shame if they [Gold's Gym International] are going to let a piece of history just disappear but sadly I think that’s what is going to happen.”
As a current member of Gold’s Venice and a fellow Maryland alum of Google founder Sergey Brin, I believe that I am well-positioned to mediate this matter. My recommendation is that Google use its considerable wealth to purchase Gold’s Gym Venice, make it the official gym for Google employees, and rename it — wait for it…
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I'll be glad when it closes can we speed it up?
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Will the bums that live in tents behind golds get to stay? There are some crazy mother fuckers living in those couch tents back there.
True. It has gotten so bad that I don't drive down that street any more
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I always park back there. Sometimes walk that street on way to the firehouse. Its like the end of apocolypse now. Even so, i hope it stays just the way it is.
Agreed. It has a nice 3rd world/Mad Max feel to it.
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The bums are mostly harmless, its the people in the disgusting anchor-baby factories and the crackhouse looking apartments in that area you should watch out for. Venice hipsters love them some Diversity... until it shoves a gun in their face at 3am and takes their wallet
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http://www.spam.com/forum/index.php?topic=2601.0 (http://www.spam.com/forum/index.php?topic=2601.0)
LOL! Jason stern aka "special ed" has removed the article after Ron's comments.
great "reporting" using getbig's gossip and opinions section as the source, lol
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This has motivated me to finally go there in the near future and get at least one good workout in before it closes for good. The reality is that Google is 10x bigger than the Gold's franchise and it's all about computers now.
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This has motivated me to finally go there in the near future and get at least one good workout in before it closes for good. The reality is that Google is 10x bigger than the Gold's franchise and it's all about computers now.
Be wary of the guy wearing brown paper bags for shoes
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It has by far the best equipment of any gym I've ever trained at
I like to use free weights, but also like to mix in machines. They have by far the best machines of any gym. It was even better in the past before they replaced some of the old equipment. Most machines are designed very well.
Hopefully they can stay in the same place or move most if not all of their equipment to a new site.
I was there today...great gym...wish I could train there all the time
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Great gym, but like pro bodybuilding its had its day. It lost that old fashioned touch it was known for a longtime ago.
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Was there in the late 80's! The Mecca! Bodybuilding History! It's time has come and gone!
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http://www.nbclosangeles.com/blogs/press-here/Google-Will-Not-Take-Over-Golds-Gym-151555075.html
Google already has a large spread in SoCal's Venice. But reports that the Internet search giant is flexing its muscle for more space are not true.
Rumors surfaced Monday that the Mountain View-based technology company was expanding its footprint in Venice by adding 200,000-square-feet of office space, including taking over the iconic Gold's Gym.
The news had upset some longtime patrons of the famed gym, which was once home to the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But Tuesday, Google said the reports that the company is trying to expand into Gold's Gym are flat wrong.
"We have no plans to expand into Gold's Gym space," said Jordan Newman, manager of corporate communications and public affairs at Google. "In fact, we are working with them to extend their lease."
Google does not own the building but it could lease it and then sublease it to Gold's Gym, whose lease is running out.
Newman said his company has no plans to expand its office space in Venice right now, including the Gold's Gym site. He said he is not sure exactly how the misinformation got out.
The gym's Texas-based owners currently lease the space from a Los Angeles real estate company.
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http://www.nbclosangeles.com/blogs/press-here/Google-Will-Not-Take-Over-Golds-Gym-151555075.html
"We have no plans to expand into Gold's Gym space," said Jordan Newman, manager of corporate communications and public affairs at Google. "In fact, we are working with them to extend their lease."
Google does not own the building but it could lease it and then sublease it to Gold's Gym, whose lease is running out.
In other words, Google will own Gold's Gym when their lease runs out in 2014. Say goodbye to Gold's.
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I was there today...great gym...wish I could train there all the time
When did you move to Cali?
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http://www.yovenice.com/2012/05/15/councilman-rosendahl-on-golds-gym-google/
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When did you move to Cali?
I didn't..took my girl to Newport Beach for a long weekend..... Mothers day/Birthday , so I had to check it out
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Nerds: 1
Jocks: 0
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Its a shitty drive from newport beach to LA. Fucking SoCal traffic!!
Didn't take that long, plus I was on vaca....so I was chilling, not stressing traffic
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Internet search-engine giant Google has acquired the lease for the iconic Gold’s Gym in Venice, CA, considered the “Mecca” of bodybuilding.
Dave Reiseman, vice president of communications for Gold’s Gym International, Irving, TX, refuted a report by Los Angeles media outlet myFoxla.com that Google planned to transform the Gold’s Gym into a walled-in campus.
“The Mecca isn’t going anywhere,” Reiseman said in an email to Club Industry.
Jordan Newman, manager of corporate communications and public affairs for Google, told TV station NBCLA that Google has no plans to expand into Gold’s Gym’s space and that Google is working with Gold’s to extend its lease, which expires June 30, 2014.
Reiseman also referred to remarks made Tuesday by Los Angeles Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who also said that Google wants the Gold’s Gym to stay in its current location in Venice.
“Google America’s real estate group confirmed that Google has acquired the lease for a number of properties in the area near its Venice campus, including the property occupied by Gold’s Gym,” Rosendahl said in a statement.
Rosendahl added that Google is currently negotiating with TRT Holdings Inc., the parent company of Gold’s, and hopes to come to an agreement that will keep Gold’s Gym where it is for 10 more years.
“I anticipate Google and TRT Holdings will make their own public statements when negotiations conclude,” Rosendahl said. “But in the meantime, Gold’s Gym is staying put, in the heart of Venice, as a landmark, and as the world capital of bodybuilding.”
The original “Mecca” was founded by Joe Gold in 1965 in Venice Beach, CA. The “Mecca” moved to Santa Monica, CA, in 1976 before moving back to its current location in 1980.
The Gold’s Gym in Venice gained notoriety after being featured in the 1977 film “Pumping Iron” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno.
http://clubindustry.com/forprofits/google-acquires-lease-golds-gym-venice-mecca-20120516/?cid=nl_nb
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Let's hope for the best, would love to visit that place during a Cali trip
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was very disapointed when I first went to the''mecca'' cormier was there taking a nap between cell phone chats and sets, tom prince and chick were there training the chest press machine. and some dude named ergas was checking me out. nice guy though but not my type. lol. l.a sucks too.
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great post tribute TO MY GOOD FRIEND PAUL SULLY SULLIVAN, A GREAT MAN AND ALWAYS DEAR FRIEND NEAR TO MY HEART, SOME PEOPLE POSTED SOME DISRESPECTFUL STUFF ABOUT HIM AND YOU REALLY NEED TO CHECK YOURSELVES, PAUL IS A GREAT MAN AND HE IS A GENUINE HEART, PAULY IM GONNA COME SEE YA SOON BRO, HOPE ALL IS WELL, CHRIS, CSWOL!
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The first one was the only one worth a shit, Arnold,Zane, Robby, Waller etc shut it down now.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/us/bodybuilders-flinch-at-googles-venice-beach-incursion.html?_r=1
LOS ANGELES — This city’s boardwalk community of Venice has long celebrated its seediness, accepting — embracing, really — the kind of sensory assaults that would faze more conventional places: beachfront bodybuilders, ragamuffin street vendors, tattoo artists, Hare Krishna chanters, skateboarders, drug dealers, gangs, homeless encampments, rowdy tourists, film crews and, more recently, a colony of medical marijuana dispensaries
But Venice might have met its match in what many see as its most unsettling threat yet: Google.
“As soon as I walked in, they said: ‘You heard about Google? Why don’t you have your staff look into this?’ ” former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who began his professional career as a bodybuilder here 44 years ago, said after he emerged from a throng of worried muscle-bound admirers at Gold’s Gym. “It’s this conspiracy theory: ‘Google is coming! They are going to take over and wipe out our bodybuilding.’ ”
In November, Google moved an army of sales and technology employees into 100,000 square feet in two Venice buildings. It is negotiating leases on another 100,000 square feet, according to real estate agents. That includes the 31,000-square-foot expanse that is Gold’s Gym, the very bodybuilding symbol of Venice, if not the universe, where Mr. Schwarzenegger stopped by the other morning.
No matter that Google officials said they had no plans to displace the fabled gym. Although a spokesman, Jordan Newman, said, “We’re not taking over Gold’s,” the company’s reluctance to talk about its long-term ambition for Venice, or why it would want anything to do with the Gold’s building, has stirred a storm of speculation and anxiety.
“They’ll buy it, they’ll kick us out, and we’ll have to relocate,” said Jerry Martin, a bodybuilder standing in front of the gym.
Nathanial Moon, bulging with muscles, called it “the ultimate revenge of the nerds, the greatest way of getting back at all the guys that stuffed people from Google into lockers from high school and stole all their prom dates. And you can’t fight against Google, because they’ve got billions of dollars.”
“But,” he added, “I love their search engine.”
People are even beginning to refer to Venice — the Venice of movies, surfing and Muscle Beach — as Silicon Beach. That may sound like progress to some, but not to those along the boardwalk, where a synagogue shares the same strip of sidewalk with a freak show advertising a two-headed turtle.
“I don’t want to see Venice look like Santa Monica,” said DeAlphria Tarver, 26, who was selling handmade hats on a boardwalk crammed with vendors, stragglers and skateboarders as homeless people slept on the adjacent grass. Google, she said, will “want it to look a lot more polished, and not hippielike.”
Mr. Schwarzenegger said that the community was “freaking out” and that he appreciated why. “Google has bought everything in Venice that is available,” said the former governor, who has been buying and selling buildings here for close to 30 years.
But he welcomes Google as a neighbor and said the fears that it would turn Venice into a sanitized Silicon Valley on the Pacific were exaggerated. “This is the mecca of bodybuilding,” he said. “They will never leave.”
Mr. Schwarzenegger may well be Venice’s biggest fan, as he demonstrated during a two-hour tour of the place he came to as an aspiring bodybuilder and where he still keeps his office. Unabashedly nostalgic, he pointed out the fading remains of the sign on an old Gold’s Gym building; the wall outside the onetime home of Rudolph Valentino that he built as a bricklayer; and the outdoor gym at Muscle Beach, where he happily posed for pictures. (“Excuse me, are you the Terminator?” one boy asked nervously.)
Even as governor, Mr. Schwarzenegger preferred to greet out-of-town visitors at his private office, arguing that Venice presented a better face of California than, say, Sacramento. And most weekends, when he is not acting in movies, he comes here from his Brentwood estate for a bicycle ride down the boardwalk. Or tries to.
“There are days when we can’t get through,” he said. “It’s wild, because the homeless wake up in the morning when you get there. They are there with their bags. They are coming out of holes and places. And you smell the incense. The touch of the ’60s is all there, and all the street vendors are coming out.”
“This place is insane,” he said. “You never have to smoke a joint in Venice. You just go on a bicycle ride in the morning, you just inhale, and you live off everyone else.”
He stopped to point out where he and Jack LaLanne had worked out, as what could have been a younger version of the governor whacked a punching bag by the beach. “You can see the way it’s built up,” he said. “The grass. The bathrooms. None of that was here. Some people think it’s lost personality. I don’t think it’s lost personality.”
Venice today is hardly like the community Mr. Schwarzenegger found when he first arrived, drawn by a promise of “nice buildings and hotels, kind of like a French Riviera type of look,” he said. “But when I got here, it was totally like a dump. It was dreadful.”
As recently as early 2006, it was still regarded as dangerous. Drug dealers could be found at all hours at Oakwood Park. Prostitutes roamed the surrounding streets wearing bright-red heels and leopard-print miniskirts. Crack cocaine addicts, their faces welted with sores, staggered along sidewalks that were broken or littered with trash.
But a crackdown by the Los Angeles Police Department helped transform Venice, as officers aided by helicopters swept out drug dealers and gangs. Abbot Kinney Boulevard, once just another forlorn Venice street, was named “The Coolest Block in America” by GQ magazine in its Style Bible this spring. There are plans to build a 720-foot-long zip line over the boardwalk.
Mr. Newman said Google had no desire to pick a fight with the bodybuilders. But the bodybuilders were not buying that. “If you don’t want the building, leave it alone,” said Big Will Harris.
In truth, Google may not be the only culprit here. The old World Gym at the top of Abbot Kinney, the place that was Mr. Schwarzenegger’s gym, has been bought. World’s is gone, and the space is being transformed into high-end shops and offices. The new owner and future tenant?
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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"..said Big Will Harris" ;D
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My employer bought the place... WTF, they just bought "Hello Moto" as well.
They will own the world..
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My employer bought the place... WTF, they just bought "Hello Moto" as well.
They will own the world..
No they won't, after FB & Twitter, Google will be the next big 2.0 bubble (within 5-10 years max)
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/us/bodybuilders-flinch-at-googles-venice-beach-incursion.html?_r=1
LOS ANGELES — This city’s boardwalk community of Venice has long celebrated its seediness, accepting — embracing, really — the kind of sensory assaults that would faze more conventional places: beachfront bodybuilders, ragamuffin street vendors, tattoo artists, Hare Krishna chanters, skateboarders, drug dealers, gangs, homeless encampments, rowdy tourists, film crews and, more recently, a colony of medical marijuana dispensaries.
But Venice might have met its match in what many see as its most unsettling threat yet: Google.
“As soon as I walked in, they said: ‘You heard about Google? Why don’t you have your staff look into this?’ ” former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who began his professional career as a bodybuilder here 44 years ago, said after he emerged from a throng of worried muscle-bound admirers at Gold’s Gym. “It’s this conspiracy theory: ‘Google is coming! They are going to take over and wipe out our bodybuilding.’ ”
In November, Google moved an army of sales and technology employees into 100,000 square feet in two Venice buildings. It is negotiating leases on another 100,000 square feet, according to real estate agents. That includes the 31,000-square-foot expanse that is Gold’s Gym, the very bodybuilding symbol of Venice, if not the universe, where Mr. Schwarzenegger stopped by the other morning.
No matter that Google officials said they had no plans to displace the fabled gym. Although a spokesman, Jordan Newman, said, “We’re not taking over Gold’s,” the company’s reluctance to talk about its long-term ambition for Venice, or why it would want anything to do with the Gold’s building, has stirred a storm of speculation and anxiety.
“They’ll buy it, they’ll kick us out, and we’ll have to relocate,” said Jerry Martin, a bodybuilder standing in front of the gym.
Nathanial Moon, bulging with muscles, called it “the ultimate revenge of the nerds, the greatest way of getting back at all the guys that stuffed people from Google into lockers from high school and stole all their prom dates. And you can’t fight against Google, because they’ve got billions of dollars.”
“But,” he added, “I love their search engine.”
People are even beginning to refer to Venice — the Venice of movies, surfing and Muscle Beach — as Silicon Beach. That may sound like progress to some, but not to those along the boardwalk, where a synagogue shares the same strip of sidewalk with a freak show advertising a two-headed turtle.
“I don’t want to see Venice look like Santa Monica,” said DeAlphria Tarver, 26, who was selling handmade hats on a boardwalk crammed with vendors, stragglers and skateboarders as homeless people slept on the adjacent grass. Google, she said, will “want it to look a lot more polished, and not hippielike.”
Mr. Schwarzenegger said that the community was “freaking out” and that he appreciated why. “Google has bought everything in Venice that is available,” said the former governor, who has been buying and selling buildings here for close to 30 years.
But he welcomes Google as a neighbor and said the fears that it would turn Venice into a sanitized Silicon Valley on the Pacific were exaggerated. “This is the mecca of bodybuilding,” he said. “They will never leave.”
Mr. Schwarzenegger may well be Venice’s biggest fan, as he demonstrated during a two-hour tour of the place he came to as an aspiring bodybuilder and where he still keeps his office. Unabashedly nostalgic, he pointed out the fading remains of the sign on an old Gold’s Gym building; the wall outside the onetime home of Rudolph Valentino that he built as a bricklayer; and the outdoor gym at Muscle Beach, where he happily posed for pictures. (“Excuse me, are you the Terminator?” one boy asked nervously.)
Even as governor, Mr. Schwarzenegger preferred to greet out-of-town visitors at his private office, arguing that Venice presented a better face of California than, say, Sacramento. And most weekends, when he is not acting in movies, he comes here from his Brentwood estate for a bicycle ride down the boardwalk. Or tries to.
“There are days when we can’t get through,” he said. “It’s wild, because the homeless wake up in the morning when you get there. They are there with their bags. They are coming out of holes and places. And you smell the incense. The touch of the ’60s is all there, and all the street vendors are coming out.”
“This place is insane,” he said. “You never have to smoke a joint in Venice. You just go on a bicycle ride in the morning, you just inhale, and you live off everyone else.”
He stopped to point out where he and Jack LaLanne had worked out, as what could have been a younger version of the governor whacked a punching bag by the beach. “You can see the way it’s built up,” he said. “The grass. The bathrooms. None of that was here. Some people think it’s lost personality. I don’t think it’s lost personality.”
Venice today is hardly like the community Mr. Schwarzenegger found when he first arrived, drawn by a promise of “nice buildings and hotels, kind of like a French Riviera type of look,” he said. “But when I got here, it was totally like a dump. It was dreadful.”
As recently as early 2006, it was still regarded as dangerous. Drug dealers could be found at all hours at Oakwood Park. Prostitutes roamed the surrounding streets wearing bright-red heels and leopard-print miniskirts. Crack cocaine addicts, their faces welted with sores, staggered along sidewalks that were broken or littered with trash.
But a crackdown by the Los Angeles Police Department helped transform Venice, as officers aided by helicopters swept out drug dealers and gangs. Abbot Kinney Boulevard, once just another forlorn Venice street, was named “The Coolest Block in America” by GQ magazine in its Style Bible this spring. There are plans to build a 720-foot-long zip line over the boardwalk.
Mr. Newman said Google had no desire to pick a fight with the bodybuilders. But the bodybuilders were not buying that. “If you don’t want the building, leave it alone,” said Big Will Harris.
In truth, Google may not be the only culprit here. The old World Gym at the top of Abbot Kinney, the place that was Mr. Schwarzenegger’s gym, has been bought. World’s is gone, and the space is being transformed into high-end shops and offices. The new owner and future tenant?
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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:D
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No they won't, after FB & Twitter, Google will be the next big 2.0 bubble (within 5-10 years max)
10 years works for me... Let me get these kids thru college first :>)
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10 years works for me... Let me get these kids thru college first :>)
Fair enough, LOL!
Don't get me wrong, I think Google is a wonderful & inspiring company, not only because of their main services, but also because of their exploration spirit with projects like Google labs, the Google talks channel and their sustainability policy. However, I think they depend too much on their advertising model and pay too much for acquisitions.
Well, I hope they don't do evil in Venice.
Out of interest, what's your position/task @Google?
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Can you still go to and see the original Gold's building where Arnold trained? That's the only thing that I care about. Don't give a shit about Gold's gym if it isn't the real building.
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Can you still go to and see the original Gold's building where Arnold trained? That's the only thing that I care about. Don't give a shit about Gold's gym if it isn't the real building.
Not so much
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No they won't, after FB & Twitter, Google will be the next big 2.0 bubble (within 5-10 years max)
Yes, FB is a bubble worth right now about $70 billion for doing jack shit ::)
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Close it now. I been there once nothing special.
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Not so much
Lol
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Anyone know the going rate for the brown paper bag special? I tried to email Tom Prince but haven't heard back from him yet.
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Fair enough, LOL!
and pay too much for acquisitions.
Well, I hope they don't do evil in Venice.
Out of interest, what's your position/task @Google?
This is very true: "and pay too much for acquisitions"
"Out of interest, what's your position/task @Google?" :
Network architect for an acquisition they just bought... (MOT)
Ha, I like that photoshop that says "Googles Gym"..