Lifetime Fitness 2008 Annual Report Download - page 9

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PART I
Item 1. Business.
Company Overview
As a Healthy Way of Life company, Life Time Fitness is committed to helping its members achieve healthier, more
active lives. To accomplish this, we operate distinctive and large, multi-use sports and athletic, professional fitness,
family recreation and spa centers in a resort-like environment under the LIFE TIME FITNESS® brand. We design,
develop and operate our centers and we focus on providing our members and customers with products and services
at a high quality and compelling value in the areas of education, exercise and nutrition.
As of February 27, 2009, we operated 83 centers primarily in suburban locations in 18 states and 22 major markets.
Most Life Time Fitness centers offer access 24 hours a day, seven days a week to an expansive selection of premium
amenities and services, including more than 400 pieces of state-of-the-art cardiovascular and resistance equipment
and free-weights. Amenities generally include multiple group fitness studios with free classes, a team of certified
personal trainers and programming, educational seminars and fitness assessments, a wide selection of adult and
youth programs and activities, athletic events, cycle theatres, rock climbing walls, multiple basketball courts, squash
and/or racquetball courts, Pilates and yoga studios, dry saunas, complimentary towel and locker service, large indoor
and outdoor aquatics centers with multiple, two-story waterslides, two large zero-depth recreation pools, a lap pool
and children's interactive play area, two whirlpools, an outdoor bistro, a large child center featuring a play maze,
computer center, separate infant playroom, and numerous children's activities, a separate family locker room,
LifeSpa, which delivers a full range of hair, nail and skin care services, and therapeutic massage, and LifeCafe,
which offers the best in nutritional food and beverage services.
We believe our centers provide a desirable and unique experience for our members, resulting in a high number of
memberships per center, which we closely manage to optimize the member experience. Since 1992, we have refined
our center size and design with the opening of each new center. Of our 83 centers, we consider 74 to be of our large
format design. Among these 74 centers, we consider 50 to be of our current model design. Although the size and
design of our centers may vary, our business strategy and operating processes remain consistent across all of our
centers. Our current model centers generally target 8,500 to 11,500 memberships by offering, on average, 113,000
square feet of multi-use, sports and athletic, professional fitness, family recreation, spa amenities and programs and
services in a resort-like environment.
Our principal executive offices are located at 2902 Corporate Place, Chanhassen, Minnesota 55317, and our
telephone number is [phone]. Our Web site is located at lifetimefitness.com. The information contained on
our Web site is not a part of this annual report.
Our History
Our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bahram Akradi, founded Life Time Fitness with the vision to create a
Healthy Way of Life company that would provide an educational and entertaining experience of uncompromising
quality, while meeting the health and fitness needs of our members by always putting the customer first. For
example, our company has never required long-term member contracts, instead preferring to offer month-to-month
agreements that provide members flexibility, while focusing the efforts of our employees on the goal of earning our
members’ business each and every day, upon each and every visit.
In 1992, we opened our first club in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. This 27,000 square-foot, strip-mall facility served as
the first validation of a new, highly differentiated product and service that uniquely catered to individuals and
families.
Since then, we have been credited with transforming the health and fitness industry with category-redefining centers
that feature sports and athletics, family recreation and entertainment, professional fitness, spa services, and
amenities and programming in a resort-like environment.
In 2000, we expanded our offerings beyond operating our centers with the introduction of our proprietary line of
nutritional products and supplements, and our award-winning magazine, Experience Life. In 2001, we formalized
our Athletic Events division, which now offers nearly 100 events each year, including triathlons (indoor and
outdoor) and running events which primarily comprise 5Ks. Beginning in 2003, we launched a portfolio of health