September 12, 2013 - A new fitness facility in Fargo, North Dakota caters solely to clients age 50 and up. Welcyon Fitness After 50 offers older gym-goers an opportunity to work out without the intimidation that might attend exercising among younger patrons. Featuring low-impact equipment and a program that pairs each client with a personal trainer and a dietitian, the club aims both to help fit clients maintain healthy habits and to introduce longtime non-exercisers to new habits. “You go to some workout clubs, you almost feel like you have to be in shape to get in shape,” Bill Rodriquez, a corporate Welcyon spokesman, told the North Dakota online news portal InForum. “We have an alternative to that.” Emily Wilensky,…

August 9, 2013 - This month, the University of Oregon, in Eugene, Oregon, unveiled its new Hatfield-Dowlin Complex, a sports center that took eight years and approximately $68 million to complete. Dedicated to the university’s football team, the 145,000 square-foot center features two theater rooms, a barbershop, a cafeteria, state-of-the art locker rooms, a workspace for pro scouts, meeting spaces, instructional rooms, luxury offices, dining facilities, and numerous lounges. Visually stunning, the facility was designed with two driving principles: It had to be comfortable, and it had to sustain people working very long hours. Architects and interior designers worked together to create a space that anticipates the needs of its users and provides a sense of luxury, while also allowing…

July 31, 2013 - Kai and Charles Huang, co-inventors of the popular video game Guitar Hero, recently announced a new package of games they will launch this year as fitness accessories. The games, designed for enhancing and rewarding exercise, will track physical activity while users play on mobile devices. “The objective,” said Kai Huang, CEO of Blue Goji, the company created in 2011 to launch the workout games, “is to make [the games] so fun that you want to come back, and you want to play them, and fitness becomes a byproduct.” The games, Huang said, will be more immersive and habit-forming than other workout distractions. An article about Blue Goji in the online tech news outlet All Things, D…

July 22, 2013 - YogaFit, Los Angeles, has launched YogaFit for Warriors, a certification program that teaches instructors how to help soldiers and veterans who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and traumatic injuries. Along with a focus on specific yoga postures, breathing methods, and relaxation techniques, the 100-hour program includes information on how trauma affects the brain and body. The Veterans Administration (V.A.) announced last year that 30 percent of the Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans treated at V.A. hospitals had been diagnosed with PTSD. Previously, in 2010, a study funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and led by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School showed that practicing yoga had relieved PTSD symptoms for many veterans.…

July 3, 2013 - A start-up sports and entertainment company has proposed building a Washington, D.C.-area athletics complex that would occupy 600,000 square feet — the size of three Wal-Mart supercentres. The company’s founders, Kendrick F. Ashton, Jr. and Craig A. Dixon, say the facility, to be called the St. James Sports and Entertainment Complex, would be the largest in the region. Ashton and Dixon grew up locally and say that, as kids, they always dreamed of having accesses to such a complex. According to their business proposal, the complex would cater to a wide range of sports, and would include six indoor tennis courts, four batting cages, two NHL-size hockey rinks, and an 80,000-square-foot multipurpose field house. “We grew…

June 20, 2013 - LA Fitness has announced plans to renovate its Tucson East facility in Tucson, Arizona, with a full-scale update and an expansion of more than 7,000 square feet. In addition, the California-based health club chain will remodel and update nine other sites in and around Phoenix and Tucson. Reconstruction of the Tucson East site will take place near the end of July. Once complete, the club will feature all new cardio equipment and other updates. At other sites, remodeling efforts are already under way, and will continue on a rolling basis throughout June and July. While specific plans vary from location to location, they include the following: refinishing hardwood floors in group fitness rooms, racquetball courts, and…

June 25, 2013 - Last week, Texas-based Gold’s Gym International acquired all but one of the 18 fitness facilities owned by Fitness First in the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. region. According to the news outlet Club Industry, the acquisition price was in the $30 to $40 million range, and the deal will be closed by the end of this week. “We love the clubs because of the distribution in the D.C. area in relation to our current clubs,” Gold’s Gym CEO and president Jim Snow told Club Industry. “…It takes us to 50 clubs, both corporate and franchise, in that DC market, giving us a strong, clear competitive advantage, so this is a really nice acquisition from that perspective.”…

Bolsters Its Offerings With This Industry-Leader In Scheduling, Management & Point-of-Sale Software To The Rink & Family Entertainment Center Industries. Bethpage, NY (April 20, 2012) – EZFacility, Inc. (a division of Jonas Software), a global leader in software, management, billing and collections services for businesses in the Fitness, Sports & Leisure industries, is pleased to announce the purchase of certain assets of Frontline Solutions, LLC. With headquarters in Wayne, PA, Frontline Solutions is a leading provider of integrated point-of-sale, scheduling and ticketing software for the rink and family entertainment center markets. “We are very proud to welcome Frontline Solutions to our industry-leading portfolio of scheduling and management software platforms for the fitness, sports and leisure industries”, comments Adam Zeitsiff, Chief Executive…

Clients of EZFacility Can Now Offer Their Own Customized App to Members. Bethpage, NY (April 19, 2012) – EZFacility clients now have the ability to set up their own comprehensive iPhone Application (coming soon to the Android Market) with the new MemberMe App. Using MemberMe, EZFacility’s gym, health club and sports facility clients will be able to give members access to their facility and scheduling information directly from their smartphone, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and improved retention. EZFacility, a division of Jonas Software, Inc. is a global leader in cloud-based scheduling, management and membership software for health clubs, fitness facilities, and multiple other types of sports-based businesses. “We are incredibly excited to offer this valuable tool to our customers, who…

Single Sign-On Capabilities Boosts Company Value. Bethpage, NY (September 19, 2011) – EZFacility, Inc. (a division of Jonas Software), a global leader in software, billing and collections services for businesses in the Fitness, Sports & Leisure industries, is pleased to announce a partnership with Club Vitals. Club Vitals is the world’s only fitness industry specific facility and maintenance management software. “We are extremely pleased to announce our partnership with Club Vitals,” comments Paul Deraval, Chief Technology Officer of EZFacility, “now our customers will have single sign-on capabilities making it quick and easy to access the best club management and equipment management software available in the industry.” “The Club Vitals team is looking forward to this partnership with EZFacility,” comments Skye Kaiss,…