Hot off the Press…
Taken from www.dfw.com/business
Monday, Sept. 2, 2002 TARRANT BUSINESS
Fitness guru North picking up the pace
From the Keeping-up-With-Larry North Dept:
The energetic fitness guru/author/health-club owner, still busy toning up the abs an pecs of a legion of Metroplex gym rats, is buffing up his vocal chords again, as well as flexing his expansion muscles and gearing up for a new infomercial push.
After a self-imposed, two-year hiatus form radio, North, who previously hosed radio shows on KTCK/1310 and KRLD/1080, is now getting the word out on KWRD/100.7, otherwise known as “The Word.”
North hits the airwaves from 1 to 2 p.m. on Saturdays with his fitness talk, and he’ll soon expand those hours, he tells staff writer Steve McLinden.
North is also headed east in the club-development game. Already operating Larry North Total Fitness Clubs in Fort Worth, Southlake and Dallas, North’s group has purchased land on Lake Ray Hubbard in Rockwall for a new signature club.
The 12,000-square-foot facility, which will be next door to a Hilton, will even boat slips for water-sport aficionados, he says. North describes its planned décor as “New York hip and Miami chic.”
The area’s demographics are alluring, he says.
“Rockwall County is the second-fastest growing county in Texas and the third-wealthiest,” North says.
The downtown Fort Worth club, by the way, “is kicking tail,” enjoying a 15 percent profit in 2002 after a slow build over four years, North says, adding that Southlake is also doing quite well. “Considering the economy, I have just been blown away,” he says.
North, who penned Get Fit and Living Lean, is also known for his late-night infomercials that hawk fitness products.
Get ready for a new round of them in the form of the “Larry North Weight Loss Express Train Ride Across America.”
North says he has signed a new deal with one of the nation’s top infomercial marketers, Guthie Rinker Co., for a national rollout.
