inc. type private 1 genre fitness founded august 25 1965 ; 51 years ago 1965 08 25 venice beach los angeles california u.s. founder joe gold headquarters dallas texas u.s. number of locations over 700 december 2011 2 owner trt holdings website www.goldsgym.com gold s gym international inc. is an american chain of international co ed fitness centers commonly referred to as gyms originally started in california by joe gold . each gym features a wide array of exercise equipment group exercise classes and personal trainers to assist clients . its headquarters are in dallas texas . 4 contents 1 corporate history 2 corporate information 3 criticism 4 cardio cinema 5 references 6 external links corporate history edit the first gold s gym opened in august 1965 in venice beach california . 3 5 dubbed the mecca of bodybuilding it was frequented by arnold schwarzenegger 6 and dave draper 7 and featured in the 1977 movie pumping iron . the movie brought attention not only to the gym itself but also to the world of bodybuilding and physique in general . to this day it is considered a landmark in the bodybuilding subculture 8 and has achieved cult status . 9 in 1970 joe gold sold the chain . gold s gym in laredo texas today gold s gym claims to be the largest chain of mixed gender gyms in the world with more than 700 locations in 37 u.s. states the district of columbia 10 and 20 other countries . 11 gold s gym has a membership of more than three and a half million split almost equally between male and female patrons . citation needed gold s gym locations are equipped with cardiovascular and strength training equipment and offer group exercise classes such as group cycling pilates latin dance yoga 12 and stretching through the company ggx gold s group exercise program . many gyms also offer basketball swimming pools and boxing studios . citation needed the company also licenses its name to products such as fitness equipment and clothing . the original gold s gym logo a bald headed weightlifter holding a barbell was designed in 1973 by ric drasin who was schwarzenegger s training partner for four years . 13 gold s gym members have included such celebrities as dwayne johnson hilary swank jessica alba jim morrison citation needed jodie foster keanu reeves morgan freeman and tiger woods among others . 14 to this day the original gold s gym in venice is considered a sports landmark by espn.com on its list of the 100 most important sports venues . 15 corporate information edit gold s gym in cairo along the nile gold s gym stride trainer 300 elliptical gold s gym is privately owned . it was acquired from its previous owner private equity firm brockway moran & partners by robert rowling s trt holdings in 2004 for approximately 158 million . brockway moran had acquired the company in 1999 . 16 corporate headquarters are in the dallas metropolitan area . 17 since gold s gym opened its first international location in canada in 1985 the company has expanded its global franchising program to include nearly 180 international gyms including operations in russia india australia costa rica japan the united kingdom germany egypt saudi arabia mexico and peru . 14 in 2009 the company opened its first locations in spain poland and venezuela . in 2004 the company introduced the gold s gym fitness institute to serve as a think tank on critical health and fitness issues . the institute s members includes ramona braganza robert reames mike ryan and eric the trainer among others . 18 gold s gym operates a national corporate wellness program . clients include whole foods the u.s. house of representatives american airlines and exxon mobil . 19 in 2004 gold s gym became a national fitness sponsor of the american diabetes association s tour de cure . in 2006 the company became a national strategic partner of the american diabetes association the ada s highest designation for a corporate partner . since their relationship began gold s gym has raised more than 2.5 million to benefit diabetes research education and awareness . 20 in 2009 gold s gym partnered with video game manufacturer ubisoft to create the gold s gym cardio workout video game for the wii . the game received positive reviews . 21 gold s is one of two official health clubs of the aarp where it offers month to month memberships and is the official health club of the blue cross and blue shield association . gold s has begun offering online enrollment . 22 23 24 under a license agreement with gold s gym icon health & fitness designs manufactures markets and sells a full line of fitness equipment under the gold s gym brand name . 25 criticism edit numerous customers have reported gold s gym franchises acting in dishonest and unscrupulous ways . they have reported advertised deals not being honored billing irregularities contract terms being fraudulently altered by sales staff after signing and problems canceling accounts or relocating . 26 a gold s gym in provo utah was successfully sued for fraud in 2006 for changing a contract after it was signed in 1999 . 27 in november 2014 the same provo gym left the gold s gym brand and was converted to vasa fitness . 28 like many gyms some gold s gym franchisees lure customers with free sign up or gift certificates with fabricated nominal values and then require long term contracts that are very difficult to exit without paying cancellation fees and following long and inconvenient procedures such as having to send a certified letter to their central billing office a month in advance . 29 in the past gym websites did not give membership rates and the gyms would usually not tell customers the rate over the phone asking instead that customers come to the gym to have a tour and discussion which often included a heavy sales pitch . cardio cinema edit gold s gym has provided the cardio cinema concept since at least 2008 . it features a cinema projector screen and feature length films but has treadmills installed instead of seats . gold s gym has more than 50 cardio cinemas across the u.s. 30 31 references edit brown erika august 7 2003 . investing in obesity . forbes . retrieved september 24 2007 . gold s gym opens new fitness facility in linglestown press release . december 21 2011 . retrieved january 6 2012 . a b about gold s . gold s gym . retrieved july 15 2014 . gold s gym . the corporate offices are located at gold s gym international 4001 maple ave suite 200 dallas tx 75219 gold s gym celebrates 50th anniversary ; inducts arnold schwarzenegger into the gold s gym hall ... dallas aug. 26 2015 prnewswire . prnewswire . august 26 2015 . retrieved february 22 2016 . seeing stars where the stars work out . seeing stars.com . retrieved january 9 2007 . joe gold s dungeon . davedraper.com . retrieved december 21 2011 . emery mike january 2003 . men s bodybuilding a short history . retrieved january 9 2007 . the cult of the gym the new puritans . the economist . december 19 2002 . retrieved january 9 2007 . golds gym memberships . goldsgym.com . gold s gym . retrieved july 15 2014 . locate a gym . goldsgym.com . gold s gym . retrieved july 15 2014 . gold s story . goldsgym.com . gold s gym international . retrieved november 3 2009 . perine shawn december 1 2005 . gold s goes bald . hard times . retrieved march 17 2016 . a b smith stephen p. 2005 . america s greatest brands volume iv . caple jim september 19 2008 america s 100 most important sports venues espn.com trt holdings inc. is new owner of gold s gym . dallas business journal . june 15 2004 . retrieved march 2 2009 . trt holdings january 25 2012 . trt holdings announces plans to build new headquarters . prnewswire.com . retrieved october 13 2015 . pressroom fitness institute . goldsgym.com . gold s gym international . retrieved november 3 2009 . corporate wellness . goldsgym.com . gold s gym international . retrieved november 3 2009 . 2006 annual report pdf . american diabetes association . p. 13 . retrieved march 17 2016 . press release gold s gym partners with ubisoft on new cardio workout video game . goldsgym.com . gold s gym international . retrieved november 3 2009 . gold s gym aarp . regsignup.com . retrieved october 13 2015 . smarttrainingsystems.com . smarttrainingsystems.com . retrieved october 13 2015 . axiom . bcidaho.com . retrieved october 13 2015 . gold s gym announces strategic alliance to market fitness equipment with icon health & fitness . july 25 2001 . retrieved march 16 2016 . gargulinski ryn january 13 2009 . complaints against local gyms triple since 2005 . tucson citizen . retrieved march 2 2009 . andreason vs. felsted viertel peterson and gold s gym of provo may 11 2006 . text goodbye gold s gym ; hello vasa fitness the daily universe . retrieved 2016 08 19 . http www.goldsgym.com wp content uploads 2013 12 member faqs.pdf movie theatre workout . kivb . lin television . november 8 2008 . retrieved september 28 2013 . amenities . gold s gym . retrieved september 28 2013 . external links edit dallas portal companies portal official website v t e icon health & fitness brands altra running freemotion fitness gold s gym ifit image nordictrack proform weslo weider retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title gold % 27s gym & oldid 743516739 categories health clubs in the united statesfranchisesamerican companies established in 19651965 establishments in californiahistory of los angelesvenice los angelescompanies based in dallasprivately held companies based in texasexercise related trademarkshidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parametersall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from november 2009articles with unsourced statements from january 2008official website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages deutschfran ais italiano polskiportugu srom n svenska edit links this page was last modified on 10 october 2016 at 00 57 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view