Genesis Health Clubs owner on expanding into Kansas City: ‘It’s a big commitment’

Wichita’s Genesis Health Clubs continues its Kansas City expansion with the acquisition of eight area 24 Hour Fitness locations.

“The 24 Hour Fitness folks built a great base in Kansas City,” said Rodney Steven II, owner and president of Genesis Health Clubs. “We plan on remodeling these clubs over time to transform them into the leading facilities in the Midwest.”

The purchase price was not disclosed, but Genesis plans a multimillion-dollar remodeling of the former 24 Hour Fitness centers in Gladstone, Independence, south Kansas City, Lee’s Summit, Olathe, Shawnee and two in Overland Park. They officially converted to Genesis Health Clubs at midnight Tuesday.

Under Genesis, the clubs will offer more classes and more amenities, including shower towels and sweat towels and complimentary shampoo, soap and conditioner. Membership fees will be similar to fees charged by 24 Hour Fitness, the company said.

Genesis took over the 105,000-square-foot Midtown Athletic Club in Overland Park, at 6700 W. 110th St. near Interstate 435 and Metcalf Avenue, more than a year ago and now plans to remodel and expand it to 130,000 square feet for its area flagship fitness center. Construction is scheduled to begin in October and take about a year. The club will remain open during the remodeling.

Genesis was founded 30 years ago with one club in Wichita, which Steven purchased in 1994. In late April this year, he acquired the four corporate-owned Gold’s Gyms — two in the Northland, one in Lee’s Summit and one in Olathe — bringing his total to 25 clubs in Kansas and Missouri.

With the addition of the eight area 24-Hour Fitness Centers — as well as 11 locations in the St. Louis area, Nebraska and Oklahoma on Wednesday — he now has 44 locations.

Genesis also added about 1,000 employees, bringing its total staff to around 1,800 workers.

Genesis now has about 85,000 members in the Kansas City area, Lawrence and Leavenworth.

“I’ve waited a long time until I came into Kansas City. It’s a big commitment and you don’t want to come into a market until you are 100 percent,” Steven said. “I love exercise and my staff loves exercise. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be in this business.”

Officials with 24 Hour Fitness declined to comment to The Star on the sale. However, they said they did stand by comments made to a trade publication, Club Industry, that said they wanted to “concentrate on areas with significant density to support a cluster of the company’s clubs” and grow those core markets.

This story was originally published June 14, 2016 at 3:44 PM with the headline "Genesis Health Clubs owner on expanding into Kansas City: ‘It’s a big commitment’."