A map of gyms in the financial district of Downtown Los Angeles.
The financial district of downtown Los Angeles is undergoing a construction and cultural resurgence. As shimmering skyscrapers rise, new jobs in multiple industries adapt to the immense business opportunities in the area.
Health and fitness is an important part of Los Angeles’ culture. From organic food markets to fitness classes for twerking, the Los Angeles region is known for its eccentric and unique ways of staying young and fit.
In downtown, the circumstances are bit different. The palm tree-covered vegan restaurants of the Westside are a few traffic jams away and instead the shadow-casting glass and cement buildings of downtown create a different world for the health industry in the financial district.
A slew of gym chain locations compete against each other for the financial sector crowd in downtown L.A. Due to the highnumber of white-collar business workers that commute to downtown during the work week, the downtown locations of these gyms cater themselves to this unique audience demographic.
The downtown location for Gold’s Gym blends into its urban environment in the subterranean Fig at 7th shopping center, located at Figueroa Street and 7th Street.
Gold’s Gym, like its competitors in the area, features luxurious amenities to take advantage of the white-collar workers who frequent the downtown Los Angeles financial district. Amenities include showers, a pool, steam room and sauna as well as the newest state of the art equipment in addition to personal trainers and personal fitness plans.
Brandon Dawson, fitness consultant at the Gold’s Gym in Downtown, had a lot of insight into the patterns of how the neighborhood demographics impacts the gym’s business.
“We offer a premium health club at a very affordable price. We’re very committed to having the most up to date equipment and programs and [we] add that human element. So we want to create a great member experience every workout. We want to make this like a family atmosphere, that’s how I feel we separate ourselves from the completion here in downtown Los Angeles,” said Dawson.
A map of gyms in the financial district of Downtown Los Angeles.
Dawson shared that while Gold’s Gym does not focus only on one demographic of customers, “the young professionals tend to come to our facility more often than anyone else.”
Dawson says that young professionals often not only buy a membership, but pay for at least 12 private training sessions. He says invest heavily in their fitness due to the climate of being young in Los Angeles while amassing new wealth and financial independence. “Young professionals, obviously they’re young and they just came into some new money that they just accomplished from getting out of school and figuring out how to use that money wisely.”
The amount of professionals in the downtown area also impacts gym hours, with the work week days of Monday through Thursday being the busiest. Dawson explains that the weekends are usually more for committed individuals as casual gym-goers will use them as rest days or not be in the area since they commute during the week when working. The busiest times are from 5:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. before work and in the afternoon after work.
At other major gyms in the financial district of downtown, the same demographic trends impact business plans.
At Equinox Downtown L.A., located on Flower Street a few blocks north of Gold’s Gym, the same patterns of when the facilities are crowded exist. “Before work people come here, take showers, and then go to work,” said Equinox employee Vicki Li. “Then right after work they want to beat traffic so they come out here and work out.”
Li explains that the downtown L.A. demographics of Equinox echos the information about Gold’s Gym. “There are a lot ofbanks and companies around this area, so a lot of business men. Typically an older crowd for sure.”
Equinox is a luxury gym chain, more so than its competitor Gold’s Gym, and offers high-end services affordable to the many white-collar workers that frequent the financial area.
As downtown Los Angeles continues to grow and bring in higher end offices, retailers, and living, the demand for luxury health and fitness will increase accordingly.