Jointly sponsored by
MISTI, MIT Sloan Asian Business Club, and MIT Sloan Marketing Club:
"2.6 Billion Biceps: successful franchising in China"
Bally Total Fitness Corporation
Tomer Rothschild, Chief Representative, China
Date: Monday, May 3, 2004
Time: 12:00 - 13:00
Location: E51-325
Delicious Chinese Lunch Box will be served (co-sponsored by MISTI)
Come and hear about how the largest nationwide operator of fitness clubs in the U.S. has embraced the franchising concept for its successful international expansion.
About Bally Total Fitness Corporation
Eating
granola bars with chopsticks? Aerobics class at Bally or Tai Chi in
People's Park? Only three years ago, there were no high-quality,
commercial fitness centers in China. Now, a full-blown fitness
revolution is underway, as the country prepares for the 2008 Beijing
Olympics. Franchising in an emerging market, China's burgeoning middle-class consumer
market, operating at the front line...
Come hear how Bally Total Fitness, the largest USA operator of fitness centers, entered and has succeeded in the largest untapped fitness market worldwide. Bally Total Fitness is the largest health club chain in North America with over 400 located clubs and more than 4 million members.
About Tomer Rothschild
Tomer
Rothschild is the Director of International Business Development for Bally Total
Fitness in Chicago, where he is responsible for the
company's overseas expansion and franchise efforts. Bally Total Fitness
currently has clubs open internationally in the Bahamas, China, Korea and Mexico.
Tomer's first
assignment with Bally Total Fitness was in Beijing, where he led the company's
successful market entry into China. Since the first Bally club
opened in Beijing in May 2002, Bally has grown
dramatically to 9 clubs in 6 cities nationwide, with over 500 employees and
serving nearly 10,000 members.
Tomer began his career at Lehman
Brothers in New
York as an Investment
Banker. He was educated at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he completed his MBA, and
at Wesleyan University, where he studied
Philosophy. In addition, Tomer spent three years studying the Chinese
language in China and Taiwan, and is fluent in Mandarin
Chinese.
About MIT Sloan Asian Business Club
The MIT Sloan Asian Business ClubĄ¯s mission is to foster a mutually beneficial relationship between MIT and the global Asian enterprises. As an organization for students with either the regional background or interest, we promote the MIT presence in the professional environment and bring Asian business expertise into the MIT community.
About MIT Sloan Marketing Club
The Marketing Club sponsors activities consisting of more than lunchtime presentations by marketing executives and lectures on marketing tools and techniques. We also lead marketing treks, career networking events, case competitions, and interview preparation sessions.
http://web.mit.edu/marketingclub/
About MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI)
Created in 1994, the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) Program envisions to equip MIT students and faculty with the cultural and technical sophistication to operate at the highest professional level in Europe and Asia. Over the last ten years, MISTI has grown to include China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, and Singapore. MISTI also has expanded internship opportunities abroad through its support and collaboration with CETI and OCW programs to China and Africa.
http://web.mit.edu/misti/www/index.html
