Shame ,Shame, Shame on Star Trac For Shutting Down California Plant as More Production Moves to China

I would like to thank “America and especially Star Trac” for sending us this plant and laying off thier American workers. Thank you Star Trac!

In a continuing effort to shift more production to its plant in China, Star Trac is shutting down its factory in California, resulting in close to 50 layoffs. The Irvine, CA-based company announced in early April that it would shut down its factory in Murrieta, CA. Production was scheduled to stop May 31, but new Star Trac President Dustin Grosz says that deadline may get extended by a few more weeks. A total of 48 employees currently work at the Murrieta factory, which had produced Flex Fitness products. In addition to those jobs that will be eliminated, Star Trac laid off about 25 employees from its corporate headquarters last month. Most of those employees were in departments such as sales, finance, accounting and IT, says Grosz, who adds that some of those departments are being consolidated with the StairMaster offices in Vancouver, WA. Star Trac owner Michael Bruno purchased the StairMaster and Schwinn brands from Nautilus Inc. last year. “In Irvine, we’re going to continue to have our marketing team, our product development team, our warehousing and shipping of goods,” Grosz says. “We’re going to keep our showroom here for our customers to come into. We have all of our testing labs and everything else that’s still going to be here.” Bruno has been in China for about a month overseeing the company’s production in its Xiamen, China, plant. Bruno, who bought Star Trac 10 months ago, said in March that he hoped 75 percent of the company’s production would be shifted to China by June and 90 percent would be shifted to China by the end of the summer.

Grosz says Star Trac should be close to Bruno’s percentage prediction by summer’s end. In the meantime, Grosz says the company will continue to be in a turnaround phase over the next couple of months. He says he does not anticipate more layoffs.“We believe that we made the necessary changes with the decisions that we’ve made in the past 45 to 60 days,” Grosz says. “With those decisions, we feel very strongly that we’re going to be able to make the transitions and consolidate some of the functions and then be back to profitability and growth in the not-too-distant future.” Grosz, who came from StairMaster to take over as Star Trac president after Mike Leveque resigned in March, says the company has gained some momentum after the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association show in March—where it announced several international club agreements—and the FIBO trade show last month in Germany.

“A lot of the buying decisions for a lot of our customers had been made for the spring and summer, so therefore, we’re not going to be able to get the business for spring and summer,” Grosz says. “But as we go into the fall and winter, we’re starting to pick up that business that we’ve maybe lost in the past 18 months of downturn in our company. It’s coming back. It just takes time. We feel good about where we’re at in the process.” Grosz acknowledges some of the mistakes the company has made in the recent past, mistakes the company is now trying to correct. “We’ve lost customers, we’ve disappointed customers, but a lot of that can be easily fixed,” Grosz says. “What we failed at is not delivering on our commitments, not providing the product on time, not providing the parts when we have a quality issue. We’re making a lot of headway there. Are we where we want to be? No, absolutely not. We’ve got a lot of work to do. But we’re getting the traction we needed and the focus we needed.” Shame ,Shame, Shame on Star Trac For Shutting Down California Plant as More Production Moves to China

Health Club News: …. Brought to you by courtesy of http://fitnesslifemarketing.com/

How to Respond When Your Health Club is Blasted Away By A Natural Disaster….Tornado, Flood or Earth Quake!

Q: “With natural disasters occurring around the world in Japan, New Zealand and, most recently, the American South, what steps should a health club that’s been affected by such a disaster take to begin the recovery process?”

A: Responding to a national disaster is all about prioritization. The extent of the damage to both the club and the regions infrastructure will determine what these priorities are. You may have to go through a simple clean up or find new premises.

One thing that should be at the top of the list in all circumstances is staff. Make sure that they feel safe and their home life is as secure as possible. Not only will every staff member’s situation be different (some may be relatively unaffected, others may have lost their homes, or loved ones), but how they react to this will vary considerably. We all know how home life issues can distract people at work, and a natural disaster is an extreme case of this. Until people feel safe in their home life, their ability to constructively add value to any recovery process of a club is hindered, and the workplace may be one of the few places where any scene of normality takes place for some months.

Another important consideration is preparing for an insurance claim. Before starting any remedial work, photos should be taken and as much evidence recorded to support any insurance claim. For business more significantly affected, a loss of business, or business interruption claim may also need to be prepared, and this will often require substantial financial calculations to be made before a claim can be. Of course this assumes that the club has the correct type and level insurance – and it is a timely reminder to all to ensure that the club is insured for not only the likely, but the unlikely, and potentially catastrophic events. (After all until 2010 everyone knew that Christchurch was not on a fault line, and did not have large earthquakes. Oh how wrong we all were!)

Most clubs insure physical assets well, but many do not fully insure business interruption and more significantly, depopulation insurance (the terms used in different countries may vary – but any insurance broker should know these terms) – and unfortunately it’s too late once the disaster strikes.

A: From an insurance standpoint, be sure your facility is covered for disasters, before they strike.

If your club is in a flood zone, you will need to secure flood insurance. If your club is not in a flood zone you still have the ability to purchase flood insurance through the NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program). If your club is in an earthquake zone, you will want earthquake coverage. For wind damage caused by storms or tornadoes, ensure that your existing property and casualty insurance provides wind and hail coverage.

Property insurance covers building repair or replacement when damage is caused by the stated covered causes of loss. If your building is badly damaged or destroyed, it can take months to get running again. So be sure to secure business interruption insurance to pay your ongoing expenses while you get your business back on track.

Another disaster planning coverage is contingent business income coverage. This covers you for business income loss caused by the inability of a service you depend on to provide such service, such as a local power or water supply company.

Be sure that all your insurance is with an A+ rated company with the resources to actually pay your claim. There have been instances where lower-rated companies have been so burdened by claims that their ability to pay claims is jeopardized. This is not the case with an A+ rated company. It has the resources necessary to pay all claims.

A: The best way to emerge from a disaster is to prepare ahead of time. All membership and accounting data should be backed up at an off-site, secure location; you should have an up-to-date list of all your FFE items, especially fitness equipment (photos or videos are helpful); have an email data-base for your entire membership; assure adequate insurance to cover loss of income while you are rebuilding; have a Facebook Fans page, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts. After a disaster, communication with your staff, members and the community is critical. Use email, phone chains, your social networking and local media to frequently update your plans.

How to Respond When Your Health Club is Blasted Away By A Natural Disaster….Tornado, Flood or Earth Quake!

Q: “With natural disasters occurring around the world in Japan, New Zealand and, most recently, the American South, what steps should a health club that’s been affected by such a disaster take to begin the recovery process?”

A: Responding to a national disaster is all about prioritization. The extent of the damage to both the club and the regions infrastructure will determine what these priorities are. You may have to go through a simple clean up or find new premises.

One thing that should be at the top of the list in all circumstances is staff. Make sure that they feel safe and their home life is as secure as possible. Not only will every staff member’s situation be different (some may be relatively unaffected, others may have lost their homes, or loved ones), but how they react to this will vary considerably. We all know how home life issues can distract people at work, and a natural disaster is an extreme case of this. Until people feel safe in their home life, their ability to constructively add value to any recovery process of a club is hindered, and the workplace may be one of the few places where any scene of normality takes place for some months.

Another important consideration is preparing for an insurance claim. Before starting any remedial work, photos should be taken and as much evidence recorded to support any insurance claim. For business more significantly affected, a loss of business, or business interruption claim may also need to be prepared, and this will often require substantial financial calculations to be made before a claim can be. Of course this assumes that the club has the correct type and level insurance – and it is a timely reminder to all to ensure that the club is insured for not only the likely, but the unlikely, and potentially catastrophic events. (After all until 2010 everyone knew that Christchurch was not on a fault line, and did not have large earthquakes. Oh how wrong we all were!)

Most clubs insure physical assets well, but many do not fully insure business interruption and more significantly, depopulation insurance (the terms used in different countries may vary – but any insurance broker should know these terms) – and unfortunately it’s too late once the disaster strikes.

A: From an insurance standpoint, be sure your facility is covered for disasters, before they strike.

If your club is in a flood zone, you will need to secure flood insurance. If your club is not in a flood zone you still have the ability to purchase flood insurance through the NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program). If your club is in an earthquake zone, you will want earthquake coverage. For wind damage caused by storms or tornadoes, ensure that your existing property and casualty insurance provides wind and hail coverage.

Property insurance covers building repair or replacement when damage is caused by the stated covered causes of loss. If your building is badly damaged or destroyed, it can take months to get running again. So be sure to secure business interruption insurance to pay your ongoing expenses while you get your business back on track.

Another disaster planning coverage is contingent business income coverage. This covers you for business income loss caused by the inability of a service you depend on to provide such service, such as a local power or water supply company.

Be sure that all your insurance is with an A+ rated company with the resources to actually pay your claim. There have been instances where lower-rated companies have been so burdened by claims that their ability to pay claims is jeopardized. This is not the case with an A+ rated company. It has the resources necessary to pay all claims.

A: The best way to emerge from a disaster is to prepare ahead of time. All membership and accounting data should be backed up at an off-site, secure location; you should have an up-to-date list of all your FFE items, especially fitness equipment (photos or videos are helpful); have an email data-base for your entire membership; assure adequate insurance to cover loss of income while you are rebuilding; have a Facebook Fans page, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts. After a disaster, communication with your staff, members and the community is critical. Use email, phone chains, your social networking and local media to frequently update your plans.

Weight Watchers Picks a New Target: Men

An unexpected guest is coming to the NBA playoffs this weekend — Weight Watchers. Yes, squeezed between ads urging men to drink this beer, buy that car and bank here will be one that tells them how to lose weight.
Advertising Age Embedded Player
Watch a spot from the new Weight Watchers campaign
Buzzkill? The folks at Weight Watchers don’t think so, which is why they are putting some $10 million behind their first ad campaign targeted specifically at men. “Although we are predominantly female, we do have a decent percentage of men following the program,” said Chief Marketing Officer Cheryl Callan. Since launching a men-only website in 2007, “we’ve seen a lot more male success stories come though,” she added. “And that inspired us to think we have an opportunity here.”

Weight Watchers, the biggest player in the $3.3 billion commercial-weight-loss category, is following the lead of its smaller competitors, which have been after men for a while. Nutrisystem has for years relied on celebrity spokesmen, such as former NFL greats Dan Marino and Don Shula. And Jenny Craig last year added actor Jason Alexander to its stable of star endorsers, joining Valerie Bertinelli, Sara Rue, Carrie Fisher and others.

The companies are all trying to move the needle in a category that has leaned heavily on women. Roughly 90% of clients are female, according to Marketdata Enterprises, which tracks the category. “It’s been like that because men tend to want to lose weight on their own by working out in a health club or designing their own exercise program, and they are less likely to join groups or seek counseling,” said John LaRosa, president of the Florida-based market researcher.

But Weight Watchers — whose customer base is 90% female — says it has noticed an uptick in male interest. For instance, Ms. Callan said the marketer got encouraging feedback when a man made a cameo in an ad geared at women. And Weight Watchers thinks men are more apt to use its mobile tools, including its iPhone and Droid apps.

But the marketer is taking baby steps into the male market, choosing to plug its website, instead of its meeting-based business, which according to Marketdata generates most of the company’s $1.46 billion in yearly revenue. (Nutrisystem had $509 million in revenue in 2010 and Jenny Craig had $432 million, according to Marketdata Enterprises.)

Weight Watcher’s new campaign, which debuts Sunday, is by roster agency Interpublic Group of Cos.’ McCann Erickson. Ads will air mostly during news and sports programming, including the NBA playoffs on ABC and NHL playoffs on NBC. The spots attempt to be, well, manly. Real-life users plug a special men-only Weight Watchers website, which was first launched in 2007. The ads tout features such as a “Beer Cheat Sheet,” which details the Weight Watcher point values of various beers. The site is not “rainbows and lollipops,” says one guy on the ad. Another spot tries to urge men that it takes more than working out to lose weight: “All the guys think, ‘Do some crunches, that will make you thin right away.’ That just doesn’t work,” one user says.

Weight Watchers spent $132 million in measured media in 2010 on its various products, according to estimates from Kantar Media.

Convincing men that diet — and not exercise alone — is the secret to weight loss might be the biggest challenge the category faces. Guys tend to recall their younger days, when they were perhaps more active, and think “all I have to do is go back to that lifestyle,” said Karen Miller-Kovach, a registered dietitian and Weight Watcher’s chief scientific officer. But “it doesn’t work that way. You have to run a mile to burn 100 calories. You can eat a Double Stuf Oreo, and that 100 calories is gone.”

But the good news for guys? They get higher point allowances under the Weight Watchers system, even if they are the same size and weight as their female counterparts. That reflects the fact that men, on average, tend to have more “lean body mass,” or muscles, meaning that males have a higher metabolism on average, according to Weight Watchers.

There are also differences in how men and women approach dieting. “Men tend to be top-down thinkers,” said Ms. Miller-Kovach, author of “She Loses, He Loses,” a book on men, women and weight loss. “Their approach is ‘tell me what I’ve got to do and I don’t want to know all the details,'” she said. But, women “want to know every detail.” So on the Weight Watchers website, for instance, a man might pull up a quick “cheat sheet” to discover that a slice of Domino’s pizza would cost him six to seven points, while a woman might hunt around in the more extensive food database and find she could have a CiCi’s Pizza Buffet Pizza Chicken Pizza for just four points.

Nutrisystem — whose 28-day diet plans rely on special foods delivered to a customer’s doorstep — first launched its men’s program in 2005. The company late last year rolled out a general-market campaign that features real people. It was first launched by indie shop DonatWald & Haque of Santa Monica, Calif., but the two parties have now parted ways, according to a person familiar with the matter. Nutrisystem declined to comment other than to say it works with “several agencies.”

For guys, Nutrisystem focuses on “low-glycemic good carbs” including “man food” such as burgers, pizza and hearty beef stew to “keep them satisfied while losing weight,” a company spokesperson said. In a video posted on the brand’s YouTube site, Mr. Marino seems to be taking Weight Watchers on, saying: “Guys don’t want to go to a meeting. They don’t want to read stuff in books and worry about counting calories. You tell ’em you eat this food, you eat it the right way and you stay on it and you’re going to lose weight.”

Ms. Callan countered that with Weight Watchers, “you can actually eat real food in the real world” vs. a “boxed burger and microwave pizza.”

Jenny Craig, meantime, seems to be combating one of its natural disadvantages in the men’s game — that it’s named after a woman. Mr. Alexander is the face of a campaign launched in February called “Jen Works for Men.” In one ad called “Line of Men”, he appears with 10 male clients who have lost weight in the program. Mr. Alexander, who says he lost 30 pounds in the program, wrote and directed the ads.

Weight Watchers Picks a New Target: Men

An unexpected guest is coming to the NBA playoffs this weekend — Weight Watchers. Yes, squeezed between ads urging men to drink this beer, buy that car and bank here will be one that tells them how to lose weight.
Advertising Age Embedded Player
Watch a spot from the new Weight Watchers campaign
Buzzkill? The folks at Weight Watchers don’t think so, which is why they are putting some $10 million behind their first ad campaign targeted specifically at men. “Although we are predominantly female, we do have a decent percentage of men following the program,” said Chief Marketing Officer Cheryl Callan. Since launching a men-only website in 2007, “we’ve seen a lot more male success stories come though,” she added. “And that inspired us to think we have an opportunity here.”

Weight Watchers, the biggest player in the $3.3 billion commercial-weight-loss category, is following the lead of its smaller competitors, which have been after men for a while. Nutrisystem has for years relied on celebrity spokesmen, such as former NFL greats Dan Marino and Don Shula. And Jenny Craig last year added actor Jason Alexander to its stable of star endorsers, joining Valerie Bertinelli, Sara Rue, Carrie Fisher and others.

The companies are all trying to move the needle in a category that has leaned heavily on women. Roughly 90% of clients are female, according to Marketdata Enterprises, which tracks the category. “It’s been like that because men tend to want to lose weight on their own by working out in a health club or designing their own exercise program, and they are less likely to join groups or seek counseling,” said John LaRosa, president of the Florida-based market researcher.

But Weight Watchers — whose customer base is 90% female — says it has noticed an uptick in male interest. For instance, Ms. Callan said the marketer got encouraging feedback when a man made a cameo in an ad geared at women. And Weight Watchers thinks men are more apt to use its mobile tools, including its iPhone and Droid apps.

But the marketer is taking baby steps into the male market, choosing to plug its website, instead of its meeting-based business, which according to Marketdata generates most of the company’s $1.46 billion in yearly revenue. (Nutrisystem had $509 million in revenue in 2010 and Jenny Craig had $432 million, according to Marketdata Enterprises.)

Weight Watcher’s new campaign, which debuts Sunday, is by roster agency Interpublic Group of Cos.’ McCann Erickson. Ads will air mostly during news and sports programming, including the NBA playoffs on ABC and NHL playoffs on NBC. The spots attempt to be, well, manly. Real-life users plug a special men-only Weight Watchers website, which was first launched in 2007. The ads tout features such as a “Beer Cheat Sheet,” which details the Weight Watcher point values of various beers. The site is not “rainbows and lollipops,” says one guy on the ad. Another spot tries to urge men that it takes more than working out to lose weight: “All the guys think, ‘Do some crunches, that will make you thin right away.’ That just doesn’t work,” one user says.

Weight Watchers spent $132 million in measured media in 2010 on its various products, according to estimates from Kantar Media.

Convincing men that diet — and not exercise alone — is the secret to weight loss might be the biggest challenge the category faces. Guys tend to recall their younger days, when they were perhaps more active, and think “all I have to do is go back to that lifestyle,” said Karen Miller-Kovach, a registered dietitian and Weight Watcher’s chief scientific officer. But “it doesn’t work that way. You have to run a mile to burn 100 calories. You can eat a Double Stuf Oreo, and that 100 calories is gone.”

But the good news for guys? They get higher point allowances under the Weight Watchers system, even if they are the same size and weight as their female counterparts. That reflects the fact that men, on average, tend to have more “lean body mass,” or muscles, meaning that males have a higher metabolism on average, according to Weight Watchers.

There are also differences in how men and women approach dieting. “Men tend to be top-down thinkers,” said Ms. Miller-Kovach, author of “She Loses, He Loses,” a book on men, women and weight loss. “Their approach is ‘tell me what I’ve got to do and I don’t want to know all the details,'” she said. But, women “want to know every detail.” So on the Weight Watchers website, for instance, a man might pull up a quick “cheat sheet” to discover that a slice of Domino’s pizza would cost him six to seven points, while a woman might hunt around in the more extensive food database and find she could have a CiCi’s Pizza Buffet Pizza Chicken Pizza for just four points.

Nutrisystem — whose 28-day diet plans rely on special foods delivered to a customer’s doorstep — first launched its men’s program in 2005. The company late last year rolled out a general-market campaign that features real people. It was first launched by indie shop DonatWald & Haque of Santa Monica, Calif., but the two parties have now parted ways, according to a person familiar with the matter. Nutrisystem declined to comment other than to say it works with “several agencies.”

For guys, Nutrisystem focuses on “low-glycemic good carbs” including “man food” such as burgers, pizza and hearty beef stew to “keep them satisfied while losing weight,” a company spokesperson said. In a video posted on the brand’s YouTube site, Mr. Marino seems to be taking Weight Watchers on, saying: “Guys don’t want to go to a meeting. They don’t want to read stuff in books and worry about counting calories. You tell ’em you eat this food, you eat it the right way and you stay on it and you’re going to lose weight.”

Ms. Callan countered that with Weight Watchers, “you can actually eat real food in the real world” vs. a “boxed burger and microwave pizza.”

Jenny Craig, meantime, seems to be combating one of its natural disadvantages in the men’s game — that it’s named after a woman. Mr. Alexander is the face of a campaign launched in February called “Jen Works for Men.” In one ad called “Line of Men”, he appears with 10 male clients who have lost weight in the program. Mr. Alexander, who says he lost 30 pounds in the program, wrote and directed the ads.

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