As Jeff Skeen moves his company, Titan Fitness, away from the Gold's Gym brand, he is creating a wellness brand that he plans to expand under the Fitness Connection name. Photo courtesy of Titan Fitness.

Fitness Connection, Houston, may be the latest acquisition by Titan Fitness, McLean, VA, but it is not the only change the company made recently and it will not be the last, promises Jeff Skeen, president and CEO of Titan Fitness.

In July, Titan Fitness purchased seven Fitness Connection clubs for an undisclosed sum, and shortly thereafter, ended its Gold’s Gym International franchisee status, under which it had 10 clubs.

Titan’s 17 clubs are now branded as Fitness Connection, and the company has budgeted $1 million to rebrand as such.

At about the same time, Titan completed a $4.6 million equity offering with its two private equity fund backers, WestView Capital Partners, Boston, and National City Equity Partners, Cleveland.

“Leaving the brand was definitely a difficult decision,” Skeen says. “However, by not being a franchisee, we now have the ability to view our growth with a much broader lens, including developing new markets that were not available to us before and a wider spectrum of acquisition/merger opportunities.”

The move also allows Titan Fitness to develop a localized brand into a national one. And it will allow the company to expand more into wellness.

“When we started looking at the Fitness Connection acquisition, we realized that the company had a name which reflects our desire as a company to reach a part of the American population that isn’t coming into health clubs,” Skeen says. “A big part of our messaging is about connecting people to health and fitness and being a solution to the health care crisis.”

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