Gym Showers (business related topic)

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SirConcis

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If you are the only gym in town, those unhappy with the showers will have to learn to live with it.

As long as you don't attract a creepy/stalking clientele, people just get used to the showers and use them for their purpose of washing off.

But you might consider getting columsn of 4 showers, that gives males more "comfort" space between each other than 6 shower columns.


If you have customers who are puritain, they can take their showers with shorts/underwear on.

Where I go, they have a handicapped shower in a proper stall. Nobody uses it, not even the muslims. The muslims just shower in their underwear with the bradleys and have gotten used to seeing naked men.


The gym I use has a room with 5 4-head bradleys. One in the middle of the room, and 4 in each "corner" but far enough away to allow guys between the wall and the shower.

Total capacity 20 guys.

Shy guys can use the ones that face a corner so very few see them.
 
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citr

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I think Bradleys are fine as long as it's big enough that the guys aren't practically cuddling. 4-person poles probably ideal.

I don't think the under-35 demographic is as hung up on this as many suggest. Growing up I've showered tons, and only a few have been uneasy with it.
 

srkog

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I would recommend a wall-mounted set up, without stalls or dividers. It seems to me to be a good compromise between your need to maximize floor space (and minimize cost) and the clientele's "need" for personal space.

I've used bradley, wall mounted, and stall showers, and I prefer the wall mounted.
 

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I'd say most certainly go with the open showers and the guys who feel aware of themselves... they'll probably wash with their shorts on anyway! Although wall mounted may be better (at least if you get hard you can turn to the wall) than Bradley (no place to hide your woody) due to personal space and a place to keep your soap lol! ;-)
 
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OCMuscleJock

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another option is use a THIN composite type partition with the bradleys... THAT way you will have a divider and yet still be able to use the Bradley set up. Maybe use a wire type set up that anchors it to ceiling and floor...*i'm talking thin plastic here* that way you can still have some privacy...use the bradleys and not get splashed by the funk washing off the other people around you. Wouldn't take much to set up and clean up would be easy...just spray and wipe. Of course this would work best with the 4 person shower set up...and no doors to it...just dividers.
 
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223790

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Open showers could save you money in the sense that guys who are not comfortable with group nudity will shower at home thus saving you in hot water costs. The YMCA I use from time to time is still open gang showers with a hot tub and steam room in the male locker room. The last time I was there, many guys (including me) were using all of those facilities completely in the nude and were OK with it. My last local gym had a gang shower as well. At first not many guys used it, but over time I started to see more guys in there including younger guys. Guys will adapt after awhile. I understand the need to make your clients happy, but you also have to decided what kind of clientele you want to have. As I mentioned before, ultra private facilities often result in an ultra unfriendly and uptight clientele which turns some guys (like me) right off from joining or continuing a membership. I know that there are some religions where the men are ultra modest like Islam, but I wouldn't feel comfortable in a gym that had a mostly Moslem clientele because ultra privacy was being offered.
 
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bryce05

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You're going to get answers here that don't reflect the ordinary.

Today most guys will be thinking 'WTF' if they come across open showers in a new gym. Makes you think that the owner is a pervert who wants to check on his customers or something...
 

jerkitout

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Guys - these comments are amazing! Thanks so much for your feedback - sadly the location i had pinpointed has already been rejected by the planners! One can only laugh and keep looking for an equally amazing location

But i rest in the knowledge that my locker room facilities are one less thing to decide on...wall mounted shower heads it is then
 

maxcok

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If you are the only gym in town, those unhappy with the showers will have to learn to live with it.
This isn't a very wise attitude to have in business. You need to appeal to as many customers as possible.

Who's going to be enticed to buy a membership or renew if they're uncomfortable with the facility?

Guys - these comments are amazing! Thanks so much for your feedback - sadly the location i had pinpointed has already been rejected by the planners! One can only laugh and keep looking for an equally amazing location

But i rest in the knowledge that my locker room facilities are one less thing to decide on...wall mounted shower heads it is then
This seems like a smart compromise. Good luck, and let us know how things work out.
 

NumberTwentySix

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Speaking as a member of the under-30 crowd, I would be ok with gang showers, as long as there was an arm's length or so between shower heads. I don't care to be splashed with soapy man-funk from someone who is too close. The gang showers need about four feet between them. This is about the right spacing.

One thing I would love to see in a gym is a better-than-average ventilation system and some damn sunlight. The gyms in my area are all giant windowless cubes that tend to get stuffy in the steam room and shower areas. Due to 100% artificial light and no windows, combating mold is their constant occupation. Is a skylight or a high window so much to ask?
 

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I'm with maxcok on this one... it wouldn't bother me, but then I like what I got. I looked into buying a gym franchise popular in the NE and I got into this topic and here's some of the things I recall:

  1. Bradley makes a lot of products, I think you're referring to what are known as 'trees' or 'group showers'.
  2. Group showers will be cheaper to install and maintenance on the individual parts will be easier, but not necessarily cheaper.
  3. Your facility maintenance will be cheaper because you aren't going to be perforating your waterproof barrier material every three feet for showerheads and controls.
  4. If you go with group showers, Bradley also makes some stainless dividers that are popular where semi-privacy is important. A compromise of sorts for those who think they can't shower three feet away from another naked male or who are worried about splashback. These could also work for your ladies lockerroom since they can be outfitted with removable shower curtains.
Good luck... I hope your new gym is successful.
 
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SirConcis

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> These could also work for your ladies lockerroom since they can be outfitted with
> removable shower curtains.

Are you kidding me ? Women *have* to soap each other up in the showers, touch each other's nipples to compare firmness. Having a divider would prevent this essential activity all women do in the locker room shower (based on all the movies I have seen :)
 

jerkitout

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I'm with maxcok on this one... it wouldn't bother me, but then I like what I got. I looked into buying a gym franchise popular in the NE and I got into this topic and here's some of the things I recall:

  1. Bradley makes a lot of products, I think you're referring to what are known as 'trees' or 'group showers'.
  2. Group showers will be cheaper to install and maintenance on the individual parts will be easier, but not necessarily cheaper.
  3. Your facility maintenance will be cheaper because you aren't going to be perforating your waterproof barrier material every three feet for showerheads and controls.
  4. If you go with group showers, Bradley also makes some stainless dividers that are popular where semi-privacy is important. A compromise of sorts for those who think they can't shower three feet away from another naked male or who are worried about splashback. These could also work for your ladies lockerroom since they can be outfitted with removable shower curtains.
Good luck... I hope your new gym is successful.

This is really useful info - thanks so much :)
 

carter2006

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Guys - these comments are amazing! Thanks so much for your feedback - sadly the location i had pinpointed has already been rejected by the planners! One can only laugh and keep looking for an equally amazing location

But i rest in the knowledge that my locker room facilities are one less thing to decide on...wall mounted shower heads it is then

Any update on your gym venue?

Personally my thoughts on this subject are that a shower is a shower. You'll find some men who like the group thing, some people who hate it, and a large number who won't give a shit either way. However, I don't think this site is the best place to get cross-sectional feedback on the subject and would recommend you complete a local focus group session. Obviously make it a focus group that covers all aspects of your business, from equipment, layout, services, price, facilities, etc. Good luck!
 

carter2006

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Forgot to say, for me, the single most important thing about a shower is that it is HOT and has really strong water pressure. I don't care if it's communal or private, so long as it gives me a damn good shower!
 

catman

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There is a guy at my gym, the proverbial 'big sweaty gorilla', comes in in a sweat suit and a gym bag, work out, soaking his sweat suit front and back (you can see the body hair along the neck line, big mustache- usually has a towel around his neck (he does wipe down his station), in the summer he wears sweat shorts ...then hops in his car. I can't imagine... I hope he has non absorbent car seat material.... can't imagine... I have to shower afterwards.. maybe its how we are raised?
 

carter2006

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There is a guy at my gym, the proverbial 'big sweaty gorilla', comes in in a sweat suit and a gym bag, work out, soaking his sweat suit front and back (you can see the body hair along the neck line, big mustache- usually has a towel around his neck (he does wipe down his station), in the summer he wears sweat shorts ...then hops in his car. I can't imagine... I hope he has non absorbent car seat material.... can't imagine... I have to shower afterwards.. maybe its how we are raised?

Yeah he was obviously raised to be disgusting. Yuck!
 

catman

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I agree about the water pressure. One gym I used (and left) had 2 settings- one was like a hose stream coming out- it could easily pound your nuts or skull to a pulp, OR you could twist the shower head to a fine stinging mist that could take off your epidermis in a few seconds. Those shower stalls were always spotless as no one used them. My current gym is amazing in I have never seen them run out of hot water (thank god).
 

HappyBoi

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However, I don't think this site is the best place to get cross-sectional feedback on the subject and would recommend you complete a local focus group session. Obviously make it a focus group that covers all aspects of your business, from equipment, layout, services, price, facilities, etc. Good luck!

^ THIS.

If you're about to invest both your money and time, or some investors money, into this gym idea of yours, I sincerely hope you'll do the necessary research in the area. You need to create a focus group, it's quite easy. Either you can put out ads, searching for volunteers, and maybe offer a small compensation for their time. Or you could try and "pick" the people you want in your focus group, and thereby you have the power to pick a group that would better represent the people within the area you're thinking about opening the gym. Based on the answers from this focus group, you'll know what to do next.

A decision about opening a new business can't be made from asking a simple question on an internet-forum, atleast not solely from that. To research on the internet is good as well, but you need more information regarding the specific area you're about to invest in. :smile: