Business news :The success story Urban Gym in nightmare

It all started in Cholet. Three friends, Lahaye Tony, Olivier and Claire Brahim Laizet launch in 2009 their first gym. The three entrepreneurs have an idea behind the head, a promising concept in this environment archi-competitive. "It's simple," says Claire Laizet, business accounting, patron of several rooms which has since sold his shares in the business.

Clubs open all week from 6 am to 23 pm at an unbeatable price between € 19 and € 29 per month. "There are industrial premises. It has no pool, no sauna, no way. One employee per room does all the housework, coach, subscriptions .... '

Grievance

Loads minimized, machinery leasing provided by a group of fitness equipment that offers the possibility of reimbursing the material in three years. "To get there, we must make the volume. "The whole supported by aggressive promotional campaigns. Three years later, Urban Fitness has 60 clubs in France. Free. "They are all independent," says Olivier Brahim, a dining patron Saint Herblain and still a shareholder of Urban Gym. Managers return to the parent 3% of their turnover for the use of the name.

But there are numbers less favorable. In a few months, six rooms have put the key under the door overnight ... In Bordeaux, Alford, Carcassonne, Lorient, Lorient and Saint Sebastian near Nantes (this club was managed by one of the founders, Claire Laizet).

Unpaid rent, customers fewer of indebtedness which swell, disposals that do not result ... The reasons are as numerous as the grievances of customers. Because every time it's the same scenario. Sports enthusiasts have signed big checks to settle subscriptions a year or two between 200 and 300 €. Sometimes cashed checks just before closing. Even if their subscription entitles them to use other rooms, unhappy customers are organized in an attempt to recover their or complained.

Amalgam

"This is a bad image for Urban Gym, grumbles Olivier Brahim. Managers are independent. And all do not work well. And then there is the crisis we are suffering too, "he defends himself. "But it is important not to generalize. These are only six rooms that have closed. "Others indeed do very well as Cholet where independent managers say they have" 1200 customers particularly happy. "

Among the malcontents, there are managers who rise to niche, saying it did not receive the support promised during installation. Salespeople employed in Brittany and the Paris region to implant clubs complain about not being paid.

And in this context a little heated, can not reach the main shareholder, Tony Lahaye. At the headquarters of Cholet, the curtains are closed and the phone lines inconvenience. Tony Lahaye he disappeared as stated Laizet Claire, his ex-wife who has initiated proceedings against him in the tribunal? Headquarters or is it being transferred to Ivry-sur-Seine as shown Olivier Brahim? Which states: "There are ongoing discussions with the Belgians to buy the concept Urban Gym. '

Difficult to see clearly in this intrigue. The adventure of three friends has lead in the wing. DL;

( French Source Marylise COURAUD DL and Marie-Anne SALVAT www.ouest-france.fr )