The Harvard Press, August 2011:  Harvard residents Jeffrey and Lori Granville are looking to redefine typical gym workouts with the opening of their Acton branch of Koko FitClub, a training facility that Lori says is “more like a spa than a health club.” Koko FitClub aims to change traditional workouts by personalizing the experience, both with self-specified training sessions, and an atmosphere in which, Granville said, everyone knows your name.

The Harvard Press, August 2011
by Brett Keating

Harvard residents Jeffrey and Lori Granville are looking to redefine typical gym workouts with the opening of their Acton branch of Koko FitClub, a training facility that Lori says is "more like a spa than a health club."

Koko FitClub aims to change traditional workouts by personalizing the experience, both with self-specified training sessions, and an atmosphere in which, Granville said, everyone knows your name.

"We take time to talk with all our members," she said, "not just in guiding their technique but hearing about their personal challenges and successes. We joke that we are like the 'Cheers' of health clubs, where everyone knows your name. We work hard to be a place that people look forward to visiting regularly."

The personalized workout stems from the fact that each member has a personalized key, with which they check in to the club and to specific workout equipment. The key is programmed with the user's age, weight, experience, and last workout routine, in order to customize the perfect workout.

"Each workout is a little different from the last one," Granville said. "[It builds] on your success so that you don't get bored and your results don't plateau. We use automated personal training based on the patented Koko Smartraining equipment that enables us to deliver the experience and success you get when working with a personal trainer."

The Koko FitClub owners look to further differentiate themselves from competition through their marketing strategy.

"Most other health club chains make their living on the fact that their members don't come," Lori said. "They sign as many people up as they can with all kinds of promotional offers knowing that most people won't show up. Often these clubs have thousands of members." By contrast, Koko is close to capacity with just 300 active members.

"We are banking not on the fact that our members won't come," she said, "but on the fact that they will come … We can only handle a limited number of members at a time and still be able to get everyone on a machine when they want one."

This particular Koko FItClub is one of the larger franchises of the 45 in the United States, and the company is already turning a profit. Jeff and Lori also see the club as preparation for their oldest son Hunter, a recent Bromfield graduate, who also works long hours at Koko, as he looks to study sports management at University of Massachusetts next fall. Jeff, too, is a Bromfield graduate, Class of 1981.

The Granvilles opened the FitClub last July, after searching for a business that "the whole family could participate in." Jeff Granville, in particular, was "itching to get back to work" after taking time off when the Granville's third son, Nolan, was born. But rather than getting back into working for a large company, he wanted a job in which the family could "take control of their lives."

While Lori still works in e-commerce at Oracle Corporation, she works in marketing and financing at Koko, with Jeff running the club full-time. Lori says her background with Oracle helped draw her to this particular project.

"Coming from high tech," she said, "the fact that it was using automation to make the concept of personal training affordable and available to the masses also struck a chord."

Lori admits that the FItClub helped her to get motivated to work out. "It was exactly what I felt that I needed to get me working out regularly," she said. She describes a typical session as "a quick strength and cardio workout that is guided by a personal trainer so that you know that you are getting an effective workout every time."

Koko FitClub is located at 342 Great Road at the corner of Routes 27 and 2A.

read more...