Politics are only part of the reason one of the most popular workout spots on Capitol Hill has a new name. Gold’s Gym — inside the Broadway Market above the hustle of QFC — has changed its name to Pacific Northwest Fitness. Slipping out from under Gold’s has been a long-time coming for the Spears family who has run Gold’s franchises in the area for 12 years.
“We had talked a lot about wanting to break away from the big name,” Tawnya Messenger tells CHS.
Those talks first started back in 2010 when Robert Rowling, CEO of TRT Holdings, Gold’s parent company, gave $2 million to American Crossroads, a conservative political group that has supported anti-LGBTQ politicians.
Some franchises, including four in San Francisco, announced they would be leaving the Gold’s Gym brand shortly after news of Rowling’s donation broke.
Messenger said it was a difficult time for the gym and they got a lot of negative feedback.
“We love the community. We didn’t want to be affiliated with something that’s not what we’re about,” she told CHS.
The Gold’s franchisee group did split with the CEO after the donation, Messenger tells CHS.
But the opportunity to fully break away from the Gold’s franchise started about two years ago when the family decided began a split from one of the partners in their own company. Messenger declined to discuss details of the split due to legal reasons. Messenger said her father, Paul Spears, decided to split the company instead of selling the five locations. The Spearses hung onto the Capitol Hill and downtown locations.
Since the split, the Spear family has overhauled the Capitol Hill gym. They purchased more space and new equipment. Their contract with Gold’s ended on January 1 and the family submitted the documents to become PNW Fitness.
“It’s kind of our baby now,” Messenger said.
Aside from Rowling’s donation to American Crossroads, Messenger said the family had a good relationship with Gold’s. “I think (Gold’s) kind of knew we were thinking about doing it, so they were on board,” Messenger said.
While terms and rates haven’t changed with the name, Messenger said the family’s newfound freedom allows them to do what they want with the gyms, which includes being more involved with the community.
“Our mission is to be a leading provider of a welcoming and inspiring environment for community and fitness,” the PNW Fitness website says. “We seek to provide an atmosphere that allows others to be encouraged and motivated on their fitness journey.”
Since the change, Messenger said they’ve gotten some questions from members about why the name has changed and the feedback after sharing their story has been positive.
“I’m excited to see what the next year has in store for us. It’s been stressful, but it’s fun,” Messenger said.
Pacific Northwest Fitness is located on the third floor of the Broadway Market at 401 Broadway E. You can learn more at pnwfitnessclubs.com.
Smart gym shoppers will still look at Yelp for the reviews of it when it was called Gold’s. It’s a business decision based on branding. Nothing was holding them back from community involvement prior, and in fact they were sometimes involved in things. They remain an overpriced, overcrowded, poorly laid out gym with an unacceptable portion of constantly out of service equipment. As well as dramatic price hikes at their convenience, with no added benefits.
I am a member of this gym and work out regularly. I really want to like the gym, but am baffled by how its managed. They remove equipment and cram what remains together so tightly that its not easy or safe to use. Esp equipment that requires use of weights. I just don’t get why management removes equipment and doesn’t at least replace what they removed. This gym is big time over crowded, it needs MORE equipment, NOT LESS!
I like the remodel as it expanded the workout area. But in a most baffling move, the management has essentially crammed all weights and equipment into the old footprint -leaving the expansion basically empty. I guess they are going for a more crossfit experience. If I wanted crossfit, I would have joined crossfit- not a gym.
Would I recommend this gym to a friend… out of convenience-yes, if you can work out any other time but 5-7 pm. For the early bird, 5 am is wide open!
Every gym is crowded from 5-7pm and every gym has broken equipment now and then. I have friends who work out at the nearby 24hr fitness and they complain about not even being able to find a locker, at all, during rush hours. I’ve been a member of lots of gyms and I think they do a better job than most. And lots who have left this gym for 24hr Fitness, and come back. The people who work here are nice, and just as importantly, the members are generally well- behaved. That counts for a lot too.
This gym only cares about getting memberships. The gym is over overcrowded at pretty much all hours of the day. Even if you want to close down the gym at 9PM you still can’t get the equipment you want. I also want to like this gym but they make it impossible by not limiting memberships or having enough of the popular equipment.
Hi Matt! Definitely understand the frustration with this one, we want you to know that the bottom floor and the adjustments to it are not complete and still being worked on. We did have to do some moving around to make room for the plans that we have but we definitely know that it’s been tough for our members and we do sincerely apologize for that. We promise that more exciting things are underway and also that we really do appreciate feedback as we move through this. It helps us understand what’s going on in the club and give us different perspectives as we keep on updating.
Yea, I completely agree that it’s overcrowded – the squat racks and benches are always in use and there aren’t enough plates for everyone.
The barbells are pretty awful as well; they got a few good ones recently, but none of the them have knurling on the inside of the collar making it impossible to do snatches safely.
Chalk isn’t allowed, the bumper plates are in pounds instead of kilos and you’re not allowed to drop them (which makes them pointless to have), and the new benches and squat racks are more uncomfortable than the old ones.
The people that go here have no understanding of gym etiquette. They walk right next to you (or in front of you) while you’re doing heavy lifts. And I’ve had them take plates that I was using without asking.
Bob I totally agree with you on the gym etiquette, rookies that spend a lot of time texting while walking around the gym not paying attention very frustrating to see and as for the equipment poorly maintained and no space and everything is crammed its like a whole new space never existed , lots of new members including the tech’s and couples that , w/o being rude, contribute to the bad etiquette and lack of consideration at this gym , what I mean is , I have been a member for over 10 years, primarily has been a ” gay gym” run by the gays, patron by the gays and accepted by the gays, with this make-over of cap hill, the memberships have increased and a lot of them are newbies in which I have mentioned in this post earlier, we all want to embrace this, however amongst a few times I have witnessed , couples looking at me “sideways, or newbies , cutting me off or walking behind me while doing squats , straight female members , at least I think , giving me dirty looks or staring to the point I just want to hand my IPhone to them and take a “selfie” , I figure if you want to know how to work out or my style ask—— don’t stare like a idiot —, and make me feel like I don’t belong in this gym or fff-up my focus , over all this is a gym of convenience , thank god we have zumba , there are areas of improvement , not holding my breath on this one, btw ,—management most of the f-desk is nice and attentive, unfortunately there are a few that believe there cell phone is more important that greeting a member , just saying and if we are attempting to raise the min wage to a certain increase we only expect the employee to act and perform in a certain way that a higher wage expects its employees to act or perform “professional ” thank you for your time
Now that you branched off from Gold’s how is it going to work? Before I had access to other gold’s gym locations.. Is it going to be different?
Say goodbye to that. No access to any Gold’s anymore. If I recall correctly, the only other gym you can visit now is the formerly-Gold’s/now PNW fitness downtown.
Okay, i’ve been a member of this gym for several years — from the Convention Center days. I stay because it is low-key, welcoming, and suits my aging needs. Sure, the equipment could use maintenance here and there, and texting squatters can sometimes be a nuisance, but at least they seem to have cut some of the locks off the overnight locker campsites. I’ll stay, thanks.