Scarcely a month seems to go by without a former athlete launching a business including his name.
It could be a recipe for disaster, according to longtime Vancouver gym owner Ron Zalko, who told Business in Vancouver he regrets putting his name on his Kitsilano gym.
“It’s not always a good thing to put your name on a fitness club. That’s because there will be fallouts between you and some customers,” Zalko said. “The customer thinks he’s right and you think you’re right. Maybe they’re abusing equipment or not wiping the equipment down afterward. You might tell them that it’s not allowed or say ‘Please don’t do that.’ Then you become the ass. They take your name and thrash it.”
Last year Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash bought the Fitness World chain of gyms, rebranded them Steve Nash Fitness World and Sports Club and added the locations to the two gyms he previously operated.
Last month, former Vancouver Canucks centre Trevor Linden announced plans to launch Trevor Linden Fitness Club 16 later this year.
And during the summer former Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kirk McLean converted his So:Cial restaurant in Gastown into a new dining establishment named McLean’s.