Staff Photo by Dan Henry/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Michael Long performs a core and upper body workout session at North Shore Fitness Together. Long has been training at Fitness Together twice a week for the past five months. According to owner Julian Kaufman his North Shore location is ranked in the top 10 out of the 400 international franchises in growth.Julian Kaufman decided in March 2005 to create a different type of gym — a gym with private rooms and low-pressure selling techniques — to appeal to consumers looking to improve their health, not just to look good at the beach.
He founded a branch of Fitness Together, an international franchise with more than 400 locations, on Chattanooga’s North Shore, with the philosophy that he could catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
Kaufman made the decision to avoid popular fitness business techniques that rely on “pain funnels” to make customers feel bad enough to sign a contract, and independent contractors instead of employee trainers.
Now six years later, the corporate entity of Fitness Together has recognized Kaufman’s North Shore location as the No. 1 franchise in Tennessee in gross revenues, with the strong possibility that his business also will be No. 1 in the Southeast and make the top 10 nationwide, he said.
“We’re clearly looking like we’re in the top 10 in the U.S.,” he said.