Convincing consumers to pump iron instead of pounding piwo not easy for fledgling fitne

Leaving their jobs at a Warsaw hospital, they pumped zl. 20,000 (about $19,000) into a new health club, Provita, outfitting it with weight machines and a sauna. They also offered physiotherapy and massages. Over the four years, the Aruminskis have invested a total of zl. 100,000 ($40,000).
"All the time, we thought about something like this, about having our own place," Pawel says in his Ochota-based club.
But keeping this dream alive is proving tougher than expected.
The couple now are trying to find an investor to help them build a small swimming pool with a jacuzzi, either behind Provita or in a different location, says Pawel, pointing to a big ditch outside his 200-square meter club. He estimates building the pool would cost zl. 15,000 ($6,000).
Financing the pool and existing equipment will cut into monthly revenues of about zl. 17,000-zl. 10,000 ($7,000-$4,000) a month. Monthly profits come to about zl. 6,000 ($2,500) after costs for rent, electricity and pay.
But with more and more clubs coming onto the Warsaw market, and a dearth of quality pools in the city, it's a move the Aruminskis should make.
In this environment, just having a fitness club isn't enough, Pawel says.
There are now about 30 fitness clubs in Warsaw, with competition growing for customers at the high and low ends of the market. Consumers are not yet jumping at the chance to join the clubs, either because they are indifferent to physical fitness, unable to afford membership fees or unhappy with facilities that usually just offer weights and a solarium.
Brenda Bence, marketing executive at Procter & Gamble, said she was hard-pressed to find a club that contained a pool and a treadmill.
World Class Fitness, located downstairs at the Marriott Hotel, provided the "one-stop shop" with a central location, exercise machines and a swimming pool, she says.
"The most tricky part is the pool," Bence adds.
Annual World Class membership runs $1,500 for gym facilities. If you want to swim laps, the luxury comes with an additional $500 price tag.
The Sweden-based company moved into the Marriott last fall and invested $700,000 to refurbish the 900-square-meter fitness center with Ralph Lauren designs, completely overhaul the weight room and add a mirror-lined workout room. World Class expects a return on investment within two years.
The Marriott was looking for new ways to improve its services, says Ulf Bengtsson, World Class general manager. He declined, as did Marriott officials, to disclose how much rent World Class pays the Marriott.
World Class is targeting upper management in international and Polish companies, Bengtsson says.
Bengtsson estimates that the entry fee to the club represents a very small percentage of its members' incomes. Lower prices with higher membership would make the club overcrowded and less comfortable for the members.
"I don't think they would appreciate that," he says.
The club currently has a membership of 280, but target membership is 600.
"World Class is good, but I'd hardly call it world class," says David Young, director of Wood & Company. The club is extremely overpriced and conditions already are cramped, he says.
"For God's sake, if you're going to pay $1,500, you want to have room to work out," he says.
Sheraton Warsaw Hotel & Towers, the city's newest entry into the upscale fitness-center market, also is looking for a client base in local executives, hotel officials say. The hotel's first guests are scheduled to arrive in mid-May.
"We will definitely price it below the Marriott Hotel," says Gerd W. Bauer, Sheraton Warsaw's general manager. That's because Sheraton's club won't have a swimming pool, he said.
Original blueprints called for a pool in the underground fitness center, but that design was scrapped to make room for more parking and laundry services.
Sheraton currently is looking at international clubs to manage the center, but isn't ruling out in-house management. The club will include an aerobics and exercise room and likely limit membership to about 200 local executives and their families.

Not just the rich and famous

The Aruminskis, who own Provita and charge customers zl. 60 ($25) a month (or $300 annually) to use their weight rooms, are among a growing number of entrepreneurs targeting the mid-range market with a more mid-priced product.
Marek Lewandowski, president of Sport Magnum in north Warsaw, likens his product to Mazdas.
"The Marriott is selling Ferraris and is limited in the volume of service they can sell," Lewandowski says.
In addition to weightlifting, workout and solarium facilities, Magnum has squash and tennis courts. Currently, with about 800 members, it is operating at about 95% capacity, Lewandowski says. Members are mostly from the business community. The club charges an annual membership fee of zl. 1,300 ($530) a year. A lump-sum annual payment reduces annual fees by 20%.
Expats represent 40% of Magnum's clientele. The high ratio of expats to Poles in the club's membership shows how far Poles are behind in their awareness of fitness, Lewandowski says.
While Warsaw residents generally are better off financially than the rest of Poland, so far they prefer to spend their disposable income on eating out, he says.
Lewandowski declined to disclose his initial investment in Magnum but hopes to get a return on his investment in four to five years when, he predicts, the fitness market will really take off.
"The fitness industry doesn't exist ... it's a matter of a few more years," he says. The fitness business "is booming all around the world," Lewandowski says. "Why shouldn't it happen in Poland?"
While Magnum's facilities are more diverse than most offerings, its location outside the city center, like that of the Aruminskis' club in Ochota, can be a drawback. But mid-priced fitness centers are springing up downtown, among them Biosolar Fitness Club on ul. Szpitalna and Sekret on Plac Powstancow.
At Biosolar, a half-hour, three-day-per-week workout regime with sauna runs zl. 174 ($72) a month, or $870 a year, based on timed rates and without the club's 20% discount for long-term clientele. About 100 customers frequent the club each week.
"We had to fight for every client," Pagowski says. "We had to put in a lot of work to attract people."
Andrzej Pagowski renovated the Biosolar Fitness Club three years ago, when he took ownership from his cousin. Refurbishment, including equipment, cost about $50,000, Pagowski says. The heavy investment in a virtually unknown business puts potential fitness entrepreneurs off from starting up their own clubs, he says.
The club is trying to adjust its prices so not to scare off customers, Pagowski says. Biosolar attracts well-off clientele, but students, too, make up a large number of the club's customers, he says. To upgrade Biosolar's services, Pagowski is planning to open a beauty parlor in March.
Sekret is also diversifying in the mid-range market. The club has exercise facilities in addition to a sauna and mini-pool. Charges for a three-day weekly workout with sauna and pool run zl. 240 (about $100) a month, based on one-time entry fees and not including a 10% discount for multiple use.
"Here we have a complete offering," says Elzbieta Berdowska, Sekret's manager. "There's a great need for something like that," she says.
Young of Wood & Co. couldn't agree more.
More good facilities are what is lacking on the Polish market, Young says. "It's a crying shame."