Niche In Women’s Fitness Clubs
Asbury Park Press:
Middletown native Chris Palumbo once participated in athletics, theater and student government at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft.
Today, he is the creator and brand director of Elements – an expanding network of upscale clubs offering fitness, lifestyle and diet services for women. ‘We’re doing something very exciting,’ said Palumbo, 33, of South Beach in Miami, where Elements is headquartered. ‘We’re creating an international brand.’
The company expects to have 50 clubs under development in the United States by year’s end and is expanding into Asia, with locations around Bombay and Delhi, India, and in London, Palumbo said.
In the competitive arena of lifestyle clubs, Elements, which is privately owned, is trying to carve out a niche as a premium fitness club for women, according to Palumbo, a partner in the company.
‘Elements is supposed to feel like you’re walking into a fitness magazine,’ he said. A fitness magazine is packed with tips and ‘they make it interesting to read, and we try to convey that experience into the clubs.’
Elements was launched in late 2003. So far, 3 clubs have opened, in Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., and Boston, and 25 clubs are under development. Clubs are under construction in Cranford in Union County, Chicago, Seattle and Atlanta, where 3 more clubs are being added, he said.
Elements is also pursuing development deals in ‘several upscale New Jersey areas… including, I would say, Monmouth, Morris (and) Bergen counties,’ Palumbo said.
‘New Jersey represents a great potential elements market,’ he said. ‘It has… an upscale consumer base, and it has a consumer base that has an affinity toward branded products;… health and fitness and active lifestyles are very much a part of the New Jersey culture’. The company is also focusing on opening clubs in South America, which represents a ‘burgeoning fitness market,’ he said.
It has 15 corporate employees in South Beach and 55 overall, according to Palumbo. Read it all.
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