Rick Brode is expanding Franklin's offerings.

Not Just A Workout

Rick Brode is turning his father's fitness center
into a family-oriented business.

ALAN ABRAMS

Special to The Jewish News

F

or years, the Franklin
Fitness and Racquet Club in
Southfield was known as a
singles club.
But Rick Brode, vice president of
International Tennis Corporation, the
company that owns and operates
Kidsports, Sneakers Restaurant, and
the Franklin Fitness and Racquet
Club, says all that is history. Today, he
says, Franklin's reputation is that of a
family and corporate-oriented club.
"I just think the demographics of
the market changed," said Brode.
"Now you have kids that are growing

up in this environment and grow
along with the club."
Two years ago, Brode took an active
role in the operation of the club
founded by his father, Seymour, in
1969. When he took over day-to-day
operations from' his father (who now
lives in Palm Beach, Fla., where he is
international chairman for the non-
profit Israel Tennis Centers), the
younger Brode asked employees what
the club was offering people, and the
answer was mainly tennis and swim-
ming.
Since that time, Franklin has devel-
oped other amenities for its 6,000
members. "We now have aerobics,
spinning (SpinMax), tai chi,

Feldenkrais, yoga, and our aquatics
programs," said Brode.
"We offer over 70 hours a week of
instructional programming. Our high-
est membership rate is $3 a day. For
that, if you wanted to, you could
come here from 6:30 a.m. and stay
until 7 at night and participate in all
those activities," Brode said.
No area club keeps records on
members' religious affiliation, but
long-time Franklin general manager
Terry Marchand believes the club has
maintained a high level of Jewish
members. Lisa Hoppe, sales manager
at CMI Health & Tennis Club, said
CMI had a higher percentage of
Jewish and younger members in the

past, but "there has been a turn-
around" in recent years and CMI now
has "more of a mix."
Sanda Hartway at the Sports Club
of West Bloomfield said she is seeing
more older members than five years
ago. The Sports Club is expanding its
cardio and aerobics facilities, and its
. weight room.
Adv-ertising executive Dennis Green
sees a declining loyalty to specific
clubs. The Jewish Community Center,
he said, lost members because of
cleanliness and equipment problems,
but a number have returned as those
problems were resolved.
"The JCC has the most Jewish
members," Green believes, "followed

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