Downscale Problems at an Upscale Club

For the people who paid $804 a year to join Tony DeMaio’s Executive Fitness Club, it’s been a long wait.

Construction on the club in downtown Pasadena was far from completed by Jan. 1, 1989, the start-up date promised to initial members.

DeMaio blames Gene Buchanan, a general partner of the corporation that serves as the building’s landlord. DeMaio claims that Buchanan, a contractor, promised to “deliver us a club by January, 1989.” Buchanan and his lawyer, Mike Melton of Pasadena, say no such deal was made. They sued DeMaio in Pasadena Municipal Court in November, 1989, one month after DeMaio quit paying rent.

For months, only one locker room was complete, and men and women used it on alternate days, although both sexes were allowed to work out during that time. There were plumbing problems, but DeMaio said they have now been fixed. The Jacuzzi in the men’s locker room was not finished until Wednesday. DeMaio acknowledged the problems but said he compensated by allowing members to work out for months without paying dues.

Still, Pasadena court records show that at least 15 people filed small claims or civil suits demanding their money back because the club was incomplete long after the opening dates they had been promised. The records show that the plaintiffs won in at least six cases.

Court officials said, and DeMaio confirmed, that the remaining cases against him have been frozen since December, when the club filed for reorganization of its debts under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code. Since then, it has drastically reduced its rates and launched an aggressive advertising campaign to sign up more members.

Bankruptcy is actually helping him finish the club, DeMaio said, since “you’re insulated from the debt.” By the end of February, thousands of Nautilus Plus members were turned over temporarily to the Executive Fitness Club when their own gym closed for relocation and expansion. It gave DeMaio a financial boost and filled his exercise rooms.

But it was, he said, “a zoo at first,” when the Nautilus members started showing up and complaining about the unfinished club and unfamiliar equipment. Executive Fitness’ own members number 2,700, DeMaio said, and now up to 3,000 Nautilus Plus members are eligible to use it too.

Not everyone, he pointed out, is unhappy. People such as Jenny Achtemichuk, 25, got a great deal on a membership: $225 for three years. “They’ve had a lot of setbacks as a club, but they always apologize,” she said.

DeMaio maintains he is confident that he can still deliver an upscale downtown health club, with extras such as dry cleaning, fax machines, child care and $216-a-year oak lockers, aimed at people with more money than time.

“There is a need in this marketplace for a club a little more upscale than Jack LaLanne’s or Nautilus, but not a club like the Jonathan Club (in downtown Los Angeles) where you have to wear a tie to go through the lobby.”