Last Minute - The Lethbridge Journal

New gym experience is platinum
By Jeff Wiebe
For the Lethbridge Journal
For Mark Poitras and Feras Dleikan, giving customers
a bronze, silver, or gold-star experience simply isn’t
enough – only platinum will do.
At age 25, Poitras and Dleikan, owners of Platinum Fitness
in Lethbridge, are surely among the youngest fullblown
entrepreneurs in the city. But they both bring
years of industry experience and a strong passion for fitness
to their work. The two friends got involved in the
world of fitness while in high school, where they both
spent plenty of time in the gym. After graduating, Poitras
got into personal training and enrolled at the University
of Lethbridge, where he studied exercise science.
Dleikan went on to work in sales at a local gym, and later,
they were re-united when Poitras took a training job at
the same gym.
“It was really a personal passion for both of us, the whole
fitness industry in general,” explains Poitras.
“We had both known for a while that we eventually
wanted to open our own gym.”
The two began saving money, and, having built a loyal
client base, eventually decided the time was right to
strike out on their own.
“At first we were just looking into it, and then the ball
started rolling and it ended up happening.”
While neither of the two have much business experience,
they’ve had help from some knowledgeable friends
and co-workers. And they’ve poured plenty of their own
sweat into putting it all together, putting in the floor and
doing much of the renovation work themselves before
opening last fall.
“We’ve worked in a lot of gyms, between the four of us
who put this together.”
Since opening, the gym has utilized social networking
tools and word-of-mouth marketing to build awareness,
and after two months, it was already turning a profit.
Given their experience in the industry, the duo have
modelled their business to avoid some of the most common
complaints about gyms and fitness centres, including
contracts, sign-up fees and hidden costs, all of which
are non-existent at Platinum Fitness.
“Every gym you go to, they want to sign you up for three
years, and nobody likes that,” says Poitras, adding that
members of Platinum Fitness each receive their own key
and have access to the facilities 24 hours a day every day
of the year.
The personal touch is also a big selling point at Platinum,
and Poitras says the gym’s strong focus on personal
training sets it apart.
“That’s really our speciality – getting people in and showing
them how to do things properly,” he says, adding that
they strive to provide consistent information and assistance
across all trainers.
This emphasis on personal training helps gym members
develop a better understanding of how they should be
utilizing the facilities, and this in turn results in higher
usage – Poitras says about 90 per cent of Platinum’s customers
use the gym on a regular basis.
“That was the whole thing – in some places, people buy a
membership, they come in and don’t know what they’re
doing, they stumble around looking at pictures, they
don’t see any results, and then they stop coming. Meanwhile,
they’re on a three-year contract and they just keep
handing the money over for the next two-and-a-half
years without using it. We wanted to avoid that whole
scenario.”
For Poitras, fitness has become both a personal and
professional passion. His journey began in high school,
when he took a fitness class to earn a few credits, and it
has blossomed from there.
“When I was growing up, I always kind of thought I’d
be active and healthy,” he explains, adding that he wants
others to experience the same positive benefits he has received
from an active lifestyle.
“For me, I’m all about self-betterment and trying to do
what I can to improve myself as a person, and being
healthy and active is part of that. It’s had such a huge impact
on my self-confidence, how I feel about myself, and
even how I interact with other people because of that. It’s
had an awesome impact on my life.”
702-13th St. North
327-0340
Olympus
SZ-14
• 14 megapixels
• 24x optical zoom
• 3-inch LCD
• HDMI
Sale
Reg. $229.99
Bushnell Trophy
XLT 10x42
$
199 99
$
549 99
Sale
We take
trade-ins
Canon Vixia HFM 400
• 10x optical zoom
• Full HD
• Optical image stabilizer
• Touch decoration
Bushnell Legend
Ultra HD
10x26
Reg. $699.99
Nikon D90
w/18-55mm
• 12.3 megapixels
• DX format
• Expeed Image
Processing
• 3-inch LCD screen
Sale $
Reg. $949.99 799 99
41069842
Nikon Sportstar EX
8x25
Photos submitted. Platinum Fitness owner Mark Poitras works with a client.
• 100% water/fog proof
• PC-3 phase coating
• Fully multi coated optics
• Dura grip rubber
Sale
Reg. $419.99
Store Hours: Mon-Fri • 9am-8pm Sat • 9am-5:30pm Sun & Hol • Closed
Reg. $259.99 $ 199 99
• Rainguard
• Water and fog proof
• Bak-4 porro prisms
• Fully multicoated optics
$
269 99
• Waterproof
• Multicoated optics
• Pocket size, lightweight
• Wide field of view
Reg. $99.99 $ 79 99
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LETHBRIDGE JOURNAL • WEEK OF MAY 11, 2012 • www.lethbridgejournal.ca 31