a. How is the health club industry structured? What are the key success factors? 

b. How sensitive is the industry to business cycles? 

c. Are there any strategic groups in the industry and what are their distinctive features?

d. What has been Bally Total Fitness’ historical strategy?

e. What are some of Bally Total Fitness’ key strengths?

f. What are some of CEO Toback’s most pressing concerns and how could he go about addressing them?

The case looks at the structure of the US Health Club industry. In addition, it provides details of the history and growth of one of the major players in the health club industry, Bally Total Fitness. The case traces the rapid growth of the health club industry, as well as its competitive landscape and potential. While the industry is extremely fragmented and competitive, Bally Total Fitness has built a widely recognized brand name and grown via acquisitions and a variety of marketing and operational tactics. Bally Total Fitness’ current CEO, Paul Toback has some decisions to make about how to grow Bally Total Fitness in the future and provide a service that can stand out in an extremely competitive industry. This is important to provide confidence to investors – Bally Total Fitness’ collapsed stock price suggests that investors do not have confidence in its strategy.