New owners at BodyZone Fitness Center promise

equipment, classes, and physiotherapy upgrades

BY TERRY SCHMIDA

Truth be told, it’s been a while since clients or employees of the BodyZone Fitness Center could feel good about the place. Cardio machines were outdated and uncalibrated, cleanliness was laughable, and morale was low.

Enter the MacDougall family, three South Florida entrepreneurs with roots in the Keys.

Just three weeks ago the fitness-friendly fam snapped up the gym, and has since been hard at work bringing their time-tested business acumen to bear on the once-slumping health club, located in Winn-Dixie Plaza.

“We are going to be making major changes around here,” said Kim MacDougall who, along with her husband Alex, have run everything from nurseries, to property management companies up on the mainland. “We’re expanding next door into the old Foot Locker space, and are going be refurbishing equipment, and adding more classes. We’re really psyched about making this the gym that everybody comes to. It’s going to happen.”

The MacDougalls seem tailor-made for the task ahead.

Besides being a business brain, Kim is an old-hand with physiotherapy. Her husband Alex is good at fixing machines. And the couple’s teenaged daughter Ashley, on her summer break from college, is helping to upgrade the gym’s web and Facebook pages, as well as “inventory control” software.

“We could be doing so much more with a proper sign-in procedure,” Alex MacDougall mused. “As far as seeing when peak times spike, and keeping track of other customer needs. Fortunately, Ashley is a computer guru.”

The MacDougall’s daughter also plans to save a few trees in the process, by creating a paperless office. Pretty soon the only sheets around Body Zone will be used to wipe down the machines, and keep mirrors and other hard surfaces spic and span.

“We’re already begun giving the place a deep-cleaning,” Kim said. “It really needed it. That’s going to take a few days to complete.

Once they’re up and running, Kim promised, the family plans to participate fully in the social and charitable life of the community, as they have in all their previous business endeavors.

“We’re also thinking about offering special programs for snowbirds,” she said. “And we’re going to be adding more child care options. Right now we’re offering it on Saturdays, but that’s going to grow as well. Right now, what we really need to do is win back members, and we’re going to do what it takes to get that accomplished. We are huge customer service people.”

The MacDougall’s are presently planning both a soft opening, and a grander launch down the road.

But for now, the phone number (305-292-2930) remains the same, even as Ashley has given the gym’s Facebook page, at BodyZone Fitness Center, Key West, a makeover.

“We really want to help Key Westers become healthier, and create a fun environment to come work out in,” Kim said. “Please reach out to us in person, by phone, or at [email protected].”

[email protected]

 

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