GymGuyz opens in NWA, delivers gym to clients
by March 28, 2018 4:30 pm 1,466 views
GymGuyz opened a Bentonville franchise after hiring head trainer Phoenix Johnson, a former running back for Missouri State University.
A fitness company that brings the gym to the customer recently started operating in Northwest Arkansas. GymGuyz, a Plainview, N.Y.-based company with more than 140 locations in the United States, has established a Bentonville franchise, the first in Arkansas.
This past fall, franchisees Michael Moore and Bobby Carlson, announced they were bringing GymGuyz to Northwest Arkansas. The company operates with a fitness van containing more than 365 pieces of equipment and has fitness experts who provide physical training for customers at their home or office.
In January, they hired head trainer, Phoenix Johnson, a former running back for Missouri State University. While in college, the Joplin, Mo., native helped teammates with nutrition and workouts and was a high school coach. In August, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sports administration with an emphasis in health and wellness. He’d previously received certification as a personal trainer from National Academy of Sports Medicine and was working as a trainer for the Walton Life Fitness Center, a fitness center for Walmart employees, in Bentonville before Moore and Carlson recruited him.
Before joining GymGuyz, Johnson had plans similar to what GymGuyz offers — to bring workouts to others. And when he received the call to join GymGuyz, it was perfect timing, he said.
Johnson will perform the initial assessments for clients and assign them a trainer. The goal is to offer between 40 and 60 training sessions weekly, said Carlson, who’s also a certified personal trainer.
“We didn’t want to set high targets in the first year,” Moore said. “It kept us in a reality of a startup business.”
Recently, Moore and Carlson went to New York for training and to take part in a pre-marketing campaign as they work to build the GymGuyz brand in Arkansas.
Josh York, founder and CEO of GymGuyz, said the company’s revenue has risen 500% in the past three years, and it could add 15-30 locations in Arkansas. “The area is just phenomenal,” he said.