‘Sofas are for the weak and lazy. Fitness begins here,’ proclaims a sign painted in BSA’s signature orange. Inaugurated recently, the BSA Fitness Experience Centre claims to be the first of its kind in Chennai.
So what is it exactly? A gym? A store? According to K.R. Chandrasekaran, it is neither. The Chief Operating Officer of TI Cycles, of which BSA forms the fitness division, insists that the Centre is “an experience”. He adds that this is a place “where customers can come in, try out the latest, state-of-the-art equipment with the advice of on-the-spot training experts. There will be no hustling for sales… The customers may buy equipment from us if they wish, but there is absolutely no obligation”.
Maybe so, but how does that make it different from the rest? “Well, imagine someone who has no time to work out in a gym and needs equipment to take home. This Centre is then the go-to place for that person.
Everything from trying out their preferred apparatus, tweaking the same according to their body's requirements and guaranteed after-sales services,” he adds.
BSA has made an effort to make the space look welcoming. The centre is fitted out with shiny new gym equipment, including treadmills, ellipticals, strength machines.
A wooden bookshelf is lined with fitness instruction books and motivational posters adorn the walls.
According to the team, the Fitness Centre is itself an experiment – they plan to wait for six months to see how it works in Chennai before expanding to other cities.
There is an important research statistic to consider here. And this point was raised by actor Vishal, who was the guest of honour at the launch: people generally like to work out in groups, which is part of the reason why gyms are so popular nowadays. As a result, sales of fitness equipment seems to be on a decline, with fewer people choosing to work out alone at home.
“People can relate to us,” says Chandrasekaran, explaining why the statistics don’t worry him. “We’re making fitness more accessible - by enabling customers to build a home gym of sorts.”
