Weights down ... forever

Dallas fitness giant makes weighty decision to close 32 gyms amid bankruptcy

Nothing gold can stay.

Gold's Gym/Facebook

When gyms across Texas reopen on May 18, Dallas-based Gold’s Gym International will welcome members back at fewer locations.

Hammered by the novel coronavirus pandemic, Gold's Gym has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and permanently shut down 32 company-owned locations, including three in the Dallas area. In all, the company has permanently closed 11 gyms in Texas.

The Dallas-area locations that Gold’s Gym has shuttered are at:

2425 McKinney Ave., in Uptown
8335 Westchester Dr., Dallas
1001 N. Beckley Ave., DeSoto.

The closures also include three gyms in San Antonio, as well as in Georgetown, Bellmead, Temple, Victoria, and Wichita Falls.

The company says these shutdowns don’t affect any of the franchisee-owned locations of Gold’s Gym.

“We have been working with our landlords to ensure that the remaining company-owned gyms reopen stronger than ever coming out of this pandemic,” Gold’s says in a recent statement.

Across the U.S., Gold’s was forced to temporarily close gyms in response to stay-at-home orders intended to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Then the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to coronavirus-inflicted damage done to the business.

“While the COVID 19-related closures have caused us to reassess the viability of some company-owned locations and make the difficult decision to permanently close about 30 gyms, we know that we will emerge from this stronger and ready to grow,” Adam Zeitsiff, president and CEO of Gold’s Gym since February 2019, said in an April 15 statement posted on the company’s Facebook page.

Gold’s Gym has nearly 700 locations in 29 countries. Dallas billionaire Robert Rowling owns Gold’s, along with the Omni Hotels chain. Rowling’s holding company put Gold’s up for sale in 2018 but took it off the market in tandem with bringing aboard Zeitsiff as president and CEO.

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Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

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This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

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