Gold's Gym history

Sprague had been training at Golds since 1969 and as owner he would oversee its first expansion.

Only one other indoor gym landed on ESPN’s roster of celebrated athletic facilities: the Kronk Gym (#49), Detroit’s legendary boxing basement that was founded in 1970 and which saw the likes of Tommy Hearns, Evander Holyfield, Oscar de la Hoya, and a parade of other fighters throw their punches.

Without a doubt he should’ve beaten Arnold at the 1972 [IFBB] Mr.

America, 1973): What made Gold’s Gym Gold’s Gym? Joe Gold.

America, 1974): Joe had a two-car garage where he lived in Venice that he converted into a machine shop.

The next year, as Schwarzenegger, Columbu, and others trained at Gold’s for the 1975 Mr.

The publication of Jim Fixx’s 1977 best-seller The Complete Book of Running heralded the jogging/marathoning boom, while the first issue of Yoga Journal two years earlier announced yoga’s swelling presence in the West.

In 1978, Ken Sprague found out that his wife was dying.

1979: New group of investors buys Gold's.

Gold's also began selling clothing in 1980, and then added a line of nutritional supplements.

Connors appears to have had a keen eye for the fitness industry, opening up the first group fitness class in Golds in 1981, about a decade before such movements became popular.

In 1985 the gym went international, opening up its first branch in Canada to the joy of Canadian lifters everywhere.

In 1987, health club membership nationwide stood at 13.8 million, with most members in the 18- to 34-year-old age group.

The chain developed quickly, and by 1988, there were 220 Gold's Gyms in the United States, and another 50 in foreign countries.

Until passage of the Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990, steroids were not classified as a controlled substance.

Advertising Age (April 12, 1993) summed up the new line's appeal as "drinks for people who take fitness seriously." Though Gold's still maintained its roots as the crusty gym for serious weightlifters, its facilities were not as bare as they had once been.

A new Gold's franchise in Manhattan, for example, which opened in 1994, boasted 30,000 square feet of space, including a pool and 3,000-square-foot aerobic facility, a far cry from the modest store-sized Venice gym.

In 1996, chains were opened in Europe and Asia, including Moscow.

By 1997, some 40 percent of Gold's revenue came from licensing.

In a June 29, 1998 interview with the Los Angeles Business Journal, Gold's co-owner and CFO Ed Connors speculated that the company might merge with some of its bigger franchise operators, and then take the company public.

Gold’s itself grew to a chain of 534 gyms before the business was sold in 1999 to a private equity firm for a reported $60 million.

Yet the Galiani brothers stepped down from leadership of Gold's in 2001.

Gold's hired a new advertising agency in 2003, hoping specifically to shed what it called the "intimidation factor" of its hard-core bodybuilding past and create a friendlier image.

In 2004, Gold’s was bought by TRT Holdings for over $150 million.

In 2009, Gold’s released a Cardio workout on the Nintendo Wii.

But this transformation was properly put into motion when the company promoted former Chairman, Brandon Bean, as its new CEO in 2016.

The brand's noteworthy expansion highlights from 2019 include:

The only fitness gym listed on ESPN’s most notable sports venues in America, Gold’s Gym declared bankruptcy in May of 2020, an economic casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.