Bay Club Buys Spectrum
The Three South Coast Gyms Are Getting Big Upgrades
All 11 Spectrum Athletic Clubs in Southern California — including the two in Santa Barbara and one in Goleta — are now owned and operated by The Bay Club Company. The San Francisco-based corporation acquired Spectrum earlier this month and plans to spend $10 million revamping the 11 gyms to fit its high-end, “modernized country club” model.
Memberships range from $238 to $450 at the 12 existing Bay Club locations around San Francisco and San Diego; memberships at Spectrum — which regularly wins The Santa Barbara Independent‘s Best Of award for Best Health Club — range from $99 to $169.
Logan Campbell, a manager at Spectrum’s Carrillo Street location, said the acquisition was so recent that his gym is still switching out signage and assuring members who call and hear, “Thank you for calling Bay Club Downtown,” that they haven’t dialed the wrong number. He said Spectrum is expecting “big, positive” changes and is excited about new offerings for its members.
In a prepared statement, Bay Club representatives said the upmarket chain utilizes a “Four Quadrant Playbook” to balance “fitness, sports, hospitality, and family.” Additions at the 11 locations will include the Bay Club’s signature Seventy-Seven Social Clubs, Connect Business Suites, boutique retail shops, and full-service Sanctuary Spas, as well as a bunch of new sport options, like tennis, golf, squash, basketball, and indoor/outdoor aquatic complexes.
A corporate spokesperson did not return requests for additional comments on the acquisition, including potential increases in membership fees or employment changes at the affected Santa Barbara area locations.
“We are thrilled to expand our Southern California footprint as a natural extension of our well-established presence in Northern California,” said The Bay Club Company president and CEO, Matthew Stevens, in a statement. “We’re looking forward to introducing our unique model to the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara markets. We’ve built this model to truly engage with our community by focusing on what matters most to our members: a safe place to enjoy friends and family—a place where everyone can be happy.”
Stevens, who served as Spectrum’s CEO for five years before moving to The Bay Club Company in 2008, said the Bay Club has even more expansion plans for the next year. In October, it bought the StoneTree Golf Club in Novato.
In 2012, Spectrum sold 11 of its clubs in San Antonio to Gold’s Gym and had reportedly been looking for a buyer for its California clubs in recent years.
