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Strategies & Market Trends : BFT: Will the tulip craze ever break down? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Don Westermeyer who wrote (138)	3/23/1998 3:06:00 PM
From: Pancho Villa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 650

I am gonna make a few calls to clubs. I understand in CA they are running promotional discounts like crazy to make the quarter! Calling the Cambridge MA club right now!...Yes when I visited the culb in early March I saw a special in the wall for a 216 year membership. I was told this special was no longer available. The salesman offered to call headquarters to try to get me a deal but I said I needed to talk to my wife. They offered me a two people (family) membership with a present value of $1348. They never want to talk to you about this number, they just tell you that your payments will be $39.08/month for 36 months (at 18% financing which they do not mention either.... I spoke to the salesman: yes they have specials. he was busy so he will call me back. they a re a bit reluctant to give info over the phone. To all: go the BFIT web page punch i your Zip and get the phone of the nearest club and try to find out if they are running specials. Specials/disuounts etc. are of course a deviation from their strategy. IMO Mr. Hillman knows this puppy will never make it and is once more looking at the short term. IMO he does not care as he cut himself a pretty good fix pay deal plus stock options. Too bad these are restricted ( I have to read the details but I believe he cannot sell them now) From the 10K they say they will emphasize full price memberships: Core Business During 1997, management developed and began implementing five strategies to improve the underlying operations and the financial performance of the Company. These strategies have already favorably impacted the Company's financial results and management is committed to furthering their implementation. - Emphasize the Sale of All-Club Membership Plans - Prior to the 1997 Stock Offering, the Company managed its commission structure to emphasize the sale of paid-in-full membership plans to generate immediate cash for short-term liquidity at the expense of longer-term financial returns. The 1997 Stock Offering provided additional working capital, allowing the Company to emphasize the sale of all-club membership plans, which are typically financed, rather than single-club membership plans. In 1997, this new emphasis contributed to an 18% increase in the weighted-average price of memberships sold to approximately $970 from approximately $820 in 1996. Management believes that it can continue to increase new member revenues through an emphasis on financed membership plans.