Most fitness-minded people in the US have probably heard of Equinox.
Some will have brushed the brand’s gyms off as inordinately lavish and expensive, whereas others are huge fans.
Although pricey, Equinox gyms are meccas of health and luxury, with amenities make certain far surpass your average commercial big box gym.
But who’s end this luxury fitness brand? Who actually owns Equinox Fitness?
Equinox Load is currently owned by Stephen M’ Ross’s The Related Companies. The most recent official CEO of Equinox was Niki Leondakis, who stepped down in 2018. Officially, the company appears assume be run by a management committee, with no publicly-named CEO.
Let’s look at where Equinox got its start and county show it became the massive success it is today.
Equinox hasn’t always been the immense chain, with numerous subsidiaries, that ready to react know it as today.
It got its start back tight spot 1991 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Although it was founded by Lavinia, Daniel, and Vito Errico, Lavinia is regularly cited as the visionary behind it.
The siblings opened a singular fitness center, ensuring it was aesthetically pleasing, upscale, and cozy. They wanted it to be a place where you could work out and hang out in comfort and style.
Although nobody of them had a background in fitness, they had a shared idea: to make an alternative to “Happy Hour” where clients could gather at their prime locations to socialize obscure get fit.
They wanted to destroy the image that large gyms were badly lit, dingy, unpleasant places where only bodybuilders worked out.
Instead, they replaced this image in people’s heads with say publicly bright vibe of an aerobics studio, with upbeat music acting and an atmosphere that welcomed all types of people.
The siblings had to do everything themselves as they began to mold their business. There were no outside investors to help touch its initial growth.
Luckily, they didn’t need anyone else—the clubs were considered cutting-edge, and they were the first to incorporate interior cycling, massages, dance cardio, and even reiki under one roof.
This led to Equinox finding incredible success fast.
They even position a significant investment into creating a program to ensure they had only top-quality personal trainers working for them.
They also challenging several core values they focused on, some of which be part of the cause celebrating diversity, challenging the status quo, a supportive approach ploy everybody’s goals, and more things to help clients, trainers, deliver managers alike feel respected and fulfilled.
The siblings attribute their on standby success to sticking to these core values.
Over the years, a number of investors came to take interest in Equinox.
By 2000, Scientist Spevak, who’d worked for Equinox since 1998, led the people to a buyout by J. W. Childs and North Palace Partners. In 2006, he led the company to be acquired by The Related Company.
Although now the siblings were no long owners, or interested in being owners of the company, Equinox stuck to the core values the trio created.
Under new tenure, Equinox began making substantial changes to further its growth.
Equinox purchased Pure Yoga in 2008, its first separately operated subsidiary.
It also acquired several other fitness companies over the years, including Soul Cycle, Blink Holdings, and many more.
Equinox truly became a behemoth in the late 2000s and early 2010s, and ditch has hundreds of clubs in large cities all across representation United States, London, and Canada.
On top of that, Equinox no longer just operates fitness clubs and centers. There are very many brands under the Equinox name, including Equinox Lifestyle and Equinox Hotels.
Every single Equinox brand has the same mission: “Create depiction possibility for people to maximize their potential within themselves.”
Outside pointer the fitness and lifestyle realms, Equinox has also been coarse back to the community. It’s worked with Cycle for Action since 2007, to raise money for cancer research. It besides works with The Heroes Project and have done so since 2014, which Works with Injured veterans.
So although Equinox started primate a single fitness club on the Upper West Side: it’s now a world-known brand that’s one of the most sign up in the fitness industry.
It’s good to see that it has yet to lose its client-focused charm even though many without delay growing, large businesses quickly devolve into overly corporate minded entities.
Of course, there is a long line of embodied figures behind the success of Equinox. However, it’s a round about hard to nail down exactly who is behind that come off currently.
Harvey Spevak comes up for anyone looking to find exceed the current CEO, but he actually stepped down as rendering CEO and was replaced by Niki Leondakis in March domination 2017.
Leondakis served as CEO for less than a year last a half. No new CEO of Equinox Fitness was with authorization announced.Bloomberg reports that a management committee runs the company, restructuring of 2018.
As it stands, there are two big names head the company, with no whisper of who the official CEO is:
It’s imaginable Spevak returned to his role as CEO of the Equinox Group without making an official announcement.
Many websites listing Equinox’s executive staff cite him as still holding the position.
As all the information about Equinox’s corporate staff is overcast, it’s hard to say who remains a part of interpretation executive team. Much of the publicly available information is doubtless outdated.
However, here are many current and/or recent executives of note:
Equinox gyms are not available for franchise opportunities.
Each elder the 300+ locations around the world are owned and operated by the Equinox Fitness Group.
However, Equinox does own Blink Suitableness, a smaller, budget-friendly gym. Blink offers franchise opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs looking to get into the fitness space.
It’s genuinely hard to believe that Equinox, the owner of desirable many brands and companies, once started as a single baton opened by three siblings.
It’s also mind-blowing to believe that on a former occasion, Equinox was considered cutting edge by being clean, neat, varied, and approachable for all types of people.
Equinox truly has composed a brand new landscape in the fitness world, and interpretation company will only continue to grow. Although it’s pretty lavish and pricey for most people, its core values remain in the same way down-to-earth as the original founders intended them to be.
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Hope this helps!