Lifestyle
Why your local Gold’s Gym may be getting a new name
Gold’s Gym, a decades-old fitness brand with a cult following and roots in Venice Beach, is allowing almost all of its Southern California outlets to be taken over by Eōs Fitness.
The gym’s long-time SoCal franchisees, brothers Angel and Willy Banos, sold more than 20 locations to Dallas-based Eōs. Gold’s will retain ownership of the original Venice Beach Gold’s Gym, which opened in 1965 and is known to some as “the mecca of bodybuilding.”
Founder Joe Gold opened the Venice location with a focus on strength and conditioning, work ethic and lifestyle. The gym has attracted bodybuilding greats such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno.
The brand has hundreds of other franchised locations across the U.S. and globally, including in Italy and Mexico.
The move isn’t a rejection of California. It allows the chain to open up to new franchisees in the region, the company said in a news release.
“Gold’s Gym has always been a leader in health and fitness, and this decision marks a huge step forward for the brand, our franchisees and our members,” said co-chief executive Danny Waggoner in the release. “We are pushing the brand into a new era while remaining true to our heritage.”
In an email sent to members, Gold’s Gym SoCal said the move to sell “wasn’t a decision we made lightly,” the WeHo Times reported.
The email noted that Eōs Fitness chief executive Rich Drengberg spent more than a decade with Gold’s Gym earlier in his career.
Eōs Fitness operates more than 200 locations across the country under the slogan “Better Gym. Better price.” The Gold’s Gym acquisition will make Southern California the largest market for Eōs, where the brand plans to have 50 locations by the end of the year.
“While this acquisition accelerates our expansion in a highly competitive real estate market, we are especially grateful to Angel and Willy Banos for their vision and diligence in building these gyms,” Drengberg said in a company release.
The new Eōs locations will include Beverly Center, Hollywood, Long Beach and Santa Barbara. Eōs announced in an email to members that the transition took effect Oct. 29 and would not interrupt gym access.
Gold’s Gym was acquired by fitness company RSG Group in 2020. It costs between $1.7 million and $4.3 million plus a franchise fee to own a 25,000 square-foot Gold’s location.
Lifestyle
John Cena wanted to step away from the WWE ring before he became ‘too slow for the show’ : Wild Card with Rachel Martin
A note from Wild Card host Rachel Martin: First a confession: I have never watched a WWE match in its entirety. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the athleticism and the performance, it’s just not my thing. But there is something about John Cena I’ve never been able to shake.
Yes, he is a wrestling legend, but he has built a career as an entertainer that transcends the ring. The first time I saw him lead a cast was the 2019 family movie “Playing with Fire” and his rapport with kids in that film didn’t seem like acting at all. The man contains multitudes!
He co-stars with Eric Andre in his newest film, “Little Brother.”
Xie Miao and Yang Enyou in The Furious.
Norachai Kajchapanont/Lionsgate
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Norachai Kajchapanont/Lionsgate
There have been some fantastic movies released this year, and we know you can’t see them all. So we’re recommending four recent movies we missed that you should add to your watchlist: The Furious, Tuner, She’s The He, and Heresy.
If you need a few more fun film recommendations, check out these episodes:
Fun movies you may have missed
Our favorite movies on Tubi
We debate the best movies to watch on an airplane
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A tarp covers the facade of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on June 13. A federal judge has asked the arts complex’s leadership to explain the purpose of the tarp and the surrounding scaffolding.
Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images
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On Wednesday, the federal judge overseeing the Kennedy Center lawsuit ordered the center to give him a status report on the center’s operation and programming within the next few weeks. Judge Christopher R. Cooper also said that the Kennedy Center must explain the purpose and status of the tarp and scaffolding that have been placed over the front of the arts complex, where until recently both President Trump and President John F. Kennedy’s names were both displayed.
In a directive issued last Tuesday, Judge Cooper had given Kennedy Center administrators three days to update him on the arts complex’s immediate plans regarding construction, programming and public access. Trump, who now serves as the center’s chairman, had announced July 5 as the date the venue would close for major renovations.
Last Friday, on Cooper’s due date, lawyers for the Kennedy Center filed a request asking for an extension. In that filing, Matt Floca, who was promoted as the center’s president and CEO in March, said that the Kennedy Center’s current management intends to present its board with “an array of options” for trustees to vote on at their next meeting on an unspecified date in mid-July.
According to Floca, the options are a complete closure for extensive renovations; a partial closure “enabling some continued public access and limited programming” while some renovations are undertaken; and “a highly limited series of phased closures to address only the center’s most serious infrastructure needs while scheduling and maintaining a full slate of programming.”
In his newest order, Cooper denied Floca’s request for an extension. And he mandated that the center file a status report within seven days of the center’s July board meeting or by July 31, whichever date is earliest. He also ruled that the report must “indicate the purpose for and status of the tarp and scaffolding,” which were erected by workers over the center’s front signage in the early morning hours of June 13.
When asked for comment Wednesday, the Kennedy Center pointed back to the documents its legal team submitted to the court.
The tarp and scaffolding on the center’s front portico went up after the Kennedy Center’s administration slow-walked the court-mandated removal of President Trump’s name from the front of the center and from all digital materials, which was supposed to happen no later than June 12. Workers removed the lettering overnight into the following morning, hours after the federal court’s original deadline, and covered the center’s sign with a tarpaulin.
As of Monday, the sign remains hidden from the public.
Trump’s name was scrubbed from all of the Kennedy Center’s digital content on June 4, the same day an email order to do so was issued by the complex’s legal team; NPR obtained this memo the day it was sent out to Kennedy Center staff.
These court orders are part of the ongoing lawsuit filed by Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, against President Trump and the board of the Kennedy Center. Earlier this year, Cooper ruled that Beatty, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, must be allowed to participate in board meetings. NPR has asked Beatty if she plans to vote at the July board meeting, but did not receive an immediate response.
It would be very difficult for the Kennedy Center to revive a thriving programming lineup for the months ahead. Over the past year, many prominent artists canceled their planned appearances, citing the politicization of the venue. Most of the center’s programming staff have departed, either via layoffs or resignations. Unlike top administrators at other major performing arts venues around the country, Matt Floca has no experience in artistic direction, fundraising or arts administration; formerly, he was the center’s head of facilities, and he holds a bachelor’s degree in construction management.
Established artists who typically perform at the Kennedy Center generally have their touring schedules set at least a year in advance, if not multiple years ahead. In years past, the center has publicly announced its upcoming season in mid-spring for performances beginning in September and running through the following summer.
Currently, only a handful of outdoor free movie screenings of nostalgic favorites like The Princess Diaries and Clue appear on the center’s calendar of events, along with some participatory workshops for kids. In the past, the Kennedy Center presented over 2,000 arts and education events each year.
The center also recently became ensnarled in litigation with one of its longtime tenants and artistic partners. On June 12, the Washington National Opera, a company formerly in residence at the Kennedy Center, sued the complex for $17 million. It claims that the Kennedy Center had withheld “years’ worth of donor gifts, bequests and endowment funds” that had been intended specifically for the WNO.
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