2/28/2003 - Rug rats hit the mats at Children's Fitness Center

Birmingham Business Journal - February 28, 2003 by Ryan Mahoney Staff

Health and fitness experts always say it's never too late to get in shape, but a California-based newcomer to the Magic City believes it's never too early.

My Gym Children's Fitness Center, which opened last Friday at the new South Shades Crest Station retail center in Hoover, offers structured gymnastics and exercise classes for children from 10 years down to 3 months of age. Owner Deborah Thurmon, a Texas native who bought the Birmingham-area franchise from My Gym Enterprises of Los Angeles, already has enrolled 190 youngsters and says she will add up to three more locations if the initial one proves successful.

Thurmon, a former gymnast and finance major whose son CJ turns 3 next month, discovered My Gym after leaving a human resources position with domain name registrar VeriSign Inc. in Atlanta.

"My husband Cole and I needed a place for CJ, and I wanted to go back to work – just not in corporate America," Thurmon says. "We were tired of our work determining where we lived. We liked the My Gym concept so much, and when Cole was transferred to Birmingham, we were thrilled to learn there wasn't one here."

The money angle
With Cole, a medical equipment salesman for Cardinal Health Inc., Thurmon secured the local My Gym rights for $39,000 per franchise. They signed a lease for 2,800 square feet at South Shades Crest Station with developer Brigham-Williams Inc. and hired Cottingham & Foshee Construction Co. Inc. of Pelham to finish the interior. The project totaled about $250,000.

Thurmon could recover her investment quickly, though; My Gym's classes cost about $150 for 10 weeks and meet weekly for about an hour. Workouts are available for nine age groups, with each teacher supervising just five children.

The local My Gym employs eight people, although more staff likely will be hired as the franchise approaches its maximum enrollment of 500 children. Several instructors were trained at the corporate office in California; all receive background checks and are certified for CPR.

To help infants shed those unwanted ounces, instructors work closely with parents as their children perform basic movements like crawling, climbing, hanging, swinging and rolling. The courses mix exercise with songs, dances and puppetry to keep babies smiling.

Older children can be dropped off for class, although many parents stay to watch, according to Thurmon. These students enjoy a more comprehensive set of calisthenics: warm-ups, stretches, relays, tumbling, games, sports skills – although all courses are non-competitive – and even formal gymnastics. A wide range of equipment is available in several sizes, including balance beams, mats, high bars, pommel horses, monkey bars, ball pits and trampolines.

"They learn so much here, partly because we hide the exercise in play," Thurmon says. "Basic motor skills, social skills, self-confidence, lifelong habits of good physical fitness."

The last of those is one of My Gym's strongest selling points. Roughly a third of children ages 6-11 are overweight and more than 15 percent are obese, according to the American Obesity Association. As with their parents, the trend in juvenile pudginess has worsened over the last few decades.

"It's a tremendous problem, and it's getting worse," says Dana Kiker, a registered dietitian in the University of Alabama at Birmingham's department of nutritional sciences. "We're now looking at 20-year-olds having problems like heart attacks, strokes and diabetes that normally wouldn't occur until their 60s and 70s."

Encouraging children to exercise, she says, can help counteract genetic and environmental propensities to become overweight later in life.

In addition to standard courses, which begin March 3, My Gym hosts exercise-themed birthday parties and will operate a three-hour day camp this summer. It also provides open play sessions for parents who need to leave their children for a while, and evening programs on Fridays and Saturdays to give Mom and Dad the night off. Thurmon stresses that My Gym is not a substitute for day care, though.

My Gym has almost no competition in Birmingham; rival Little Gym pulled out some time ago and fellow provider Gymboree doesn't accept pupils over age 4. Local YMCAs have no comparable programs.

Developers also are noticing My Gym's exclusive offerings. Two of them recently contacted Thurmon, seeking to land her next gym, which is scheduled to open in about a year on U.S. Highway 280. Franchises in Trussville and Tuscaloosa are expected to follow.

Founded in 1983, My Gym has more than 100 locations in 25 states and plans to open about 30 more this year, according to chief financial officer Jamie Bertisch. The company launched its first corporate gyms late last year and also offers its services to underprivileged children through a nonprofit outreach program.

Contact BBJ reporter Ryan Mahoney at (205) 443-5637 or rmahoney@bizjournals.com.

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