The Colony Courier (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 28, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 20, 1998 Page: 3 of 16
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Wednesday, May 20,1998
This Paper is Recyclable
The Colony Courier 3A
BUSINESS
Bristol Oaks
opening near;
28 units leased
Bristol Oaks Apartments, the first-
ever apartment complex to be built in
The Colony, has had a successful pre-
leasing period, with 28 apartments
leased as of last Thursday.
According to assistant business
manager Rochelle Kelly, the number
of apartments leased is right on tar-
get with what the developers and
owners of the complex expected.
A ribbon cutting for the complex
- located on Main Street and Memo-
rial Drive - k scheduled on Thurs-
day, and the grand opening will take
place on June 1. At that time, 29 more
apartments of the overall 306-unit
complex will be available for rent.
TCI restores WGN
sooner than planned
Chicago Cubs and White Sox
fans got an unexpected treat last
Thursday, when TCI Cablevision of
North Texas returned WGN to its
local system on Channel 42.
The Chicago superstation - which
in addition to sports, offers movies,
syndicated programming and shows
from The WB network - was to have
been restored on June 1. However,
arrangements were made to put it on
the system earlier.
TCI had removed WGN from al-
most all of its systems nationwide last
year, much to the chagrin of viewers
nationwide. The Englewood, Colo.-
based company restored WGN to
other Metroplex systems on May 1.
■HP .H
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Health club beats odds
Local Lady of America sales No. 12 in chain
By AMY SORTER
Business/Entertainment Editor
Photo by Amy Sorter
Shannon Hinton, assistant manager of Lady of America Fit-
ness Center in The Colony demonstrates the lateral pull at Lady
of America Fitness Center on Main Street while Patti Shoaf
watches. Part of the appeal of the equipment, Hinton said, is
that it's weight-calibrated for women, rather than men.
For Ray and Patti Shoaf, franchise owners of the
Lady of America Fitness Center on Main Street, this
past year has been a series of client success stories. These
stories have resulted from sensible nutritional programs,
monthly tracked results, specially designed weight ma-
chines and a patented low-impact aerobics floor braced
by rubber cubes.
The client success stories have, in turn, led to a suc-
cessful first year for the local Lady of America Fitness
Center.
In a town other than The Colony, news that a health
club is surviving after a year might be cause for little
more than a raised eyebrow and a bored shrug of the
shoulder. But this is The Colony, where health clubs in
the past have barely eked out an existence for a couple
of months before jogging down the road to insolvency.
The fact that Lady of America in The Colony boasts
1,000-pIus members and is ranked 12th in sales among
Lady of America's 136 units worldwide suggests that
Shoafs and site are here to stay for awhile.
"We heard all the stories about how other clubs came
to The Colony and closed up," said Patti Shoaf, fitness
director for the center in The Colony and another fran-
chise in Allen. "At first, they were thinking that's what
we'd do, take the money and run. We had to convince
people we weren't a fly-by-night operation."
Added Ray Shoaf, the company's Midwest regional
manager: "This is where it helped, being part of a strong,
national company."
The concept that The Colony would be a good place
in which to place a Lady of America came from Roger
Wittenberns, the company's chairman and CEO. The
East Coast entrepreneur, who started Lady of America
during 1984 in the Hduston area, chose the Shoafs to
head up The Colony effort because of the couple's suc-
cess in turning around the franchise in Allen from near
bankruptcy to success
"It was interesting, when Roger first approached us,
I personally thought a club could do well here," Patti
Shoaf said. "Ray was more reluctant."
That reluctance was quashed during membership
pre-sale prior to the club's opening on April 28, 1997.
According to Patti Shoaf, hundreds joined immediately,
all signing three-year memberships. "As a result, we
were able to pay the rent by the time we opened the
club," she said.
This is not to say that the Shoafs embraced the "if-
we-build-it-they-will-come" strategy. The couple spent
a good chunk of money on advertising and direct mail
postcards. Despite the success of the club today, the
Shoafs and staff (including manager Andrea Montgom-
ery and assistant manager Shannon Hinton) remain tire-
less in their marketing efforts.
They're helped in those efforts by Whittenbury's strat-
egy of placing clubs in growing suburbs near booming
major cities, rather than moving into the cities themselves.
And one main reason for the club's success is be-
cause it's women-only. Ray Shoaf is the only man, and
most members know and appreciate that he's a happy
husband and happy father of four children.
"We're very family oriented," Patti Shoaf said. "We
know what it's like to try to achieve fitness while rais-
ing children. That's why we have the play area here."
In addition Ray Shoaf said, a woman-only club elimi-
nates husband-wife member competition, which can
happen when spouses join co-ed clubs.
"It's been proven that most men will join a health
club and work out for three months and get the results
they want," he said. "So what happens is the couple
joins, then he stops going and the wife is stranded over
there without her husband. She might go a couple of
more times, but she ends up leaving, and there's the
end of her fitness plan."
33
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The Colony's Best Kept Secret
he Bistro
YOU'RE TOPS
WITH US...
Live Music
Jerry Smith
every Fri. and Sat.
on Main
ctf-tcy
N
e
Free Dessert
with Meal Purchase
1 coupon per visit
Dine In and Menu Items Only
Dinner Tues. - Sat.
Corner of Main & N. Colony
DRINK SPECIALS
TUESDAY - Import & Specialty Beers $2.00
WEDNESDAY - Well High Balls $2.50
THURSDAY - House Wines $2.50
FRIDAY - Domestic Longnecks $1.50
SATURDAY - Gold Margaritas Rocks $2.50
Come in for Happy Hour
625-3910
! 1/2 offAppetizer\
with Meal Purchase
1 coupon per visit
Dine In and Menu Items Only
Dinner Tues. - Sat.
6805 Main Street, Suite 490
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Sorter, Dave. The Colony Courier (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 28, Ed. 1 Wednesday, May 20, 1998, newspaper, May 20, 1998; The Colony, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth403451/m1/3/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Colony Public Library.