We’ll always need people to fold towels and check people in. Steven told his children and nieces and nephews: “'You’ll always have a job in the company. Now, however, a new generation of apples is falling close to the tree. Eventually, Alan and Steven bought out the other family members. He brought fresh ideas and concepts from other industries and wanted to understand the philosophies inherent to that dynamic.Īt that time, several other family members were involved in the business in one way or another because Kevie had left stock to family equally. "What can I tell you? My father can be very persuasive.”Īt the age of 28, Steven joined the family business, immersing himself in studying the dynamics of the business, interviewing people, doing research, hiring consultants. equity’ speech,” Steven said with a grin, noting his dad shared that having a good salary might seem better in the short run, but equity in a business will far surpass salary in the long run. He earned a bachelor's of science degree with distinction from Cornell University, graduating from the university's Hotel Administration School before going to work for the Hyatt Hotel Corp., serving as director of development.Īs Steven's salary and reputation grew at Hyatt, his father decided to talk to him. Alan wanted Steven to join the family business, but instead, Steven pursued a career in the hotel business. Steven Schwartz, Alan's son, watched his father and grandfather work the tennis business and watched their relationship. In 1972 during construction of a second club in Rochester, New York, Kevie passed away at age 72 on the court of the club, just as some might say he would have wanted it. And the club had unique touch points such as tennis programming, tennis lessons and assistance finding tennis partners. The club had unique architectural differentiators, such as air conditioning from both ends of the building and cushioned courts. “We wanted something that would be special to tennis players, something that had never been done before,” Alan said. Instead, Midtown Tennis Club (as it was called then) opened in Chicago in October 1970 with an emphasis on the customer experience. And while “the biggest” was certainly a primary goal, it wasn’t a true differentiator. Kevie and Alan were 50/50 partners on the project. In 1967 work began on that tennis club: first the research, then the planning, then the building. They said, “Let's build the world’s largest tennis club,” Alan recalled. In 1967 this father/son team decided they wanted to work together on something meaningful, something through which they could channel their shared passion. Alan recalled with a smile what his father told him: “'We each have one vote. Originally, it was a two-thirds, one-third ownership. After Alan graduated from Yale (where he captained the tennis team) and then graduated with distinction from the Harvard Business School in 1954, he and Kevie became partners, first in the chromium business and then in an industrial real estate company. Kevie instilled in Alan the love of real estate and tennis. Kevie had been an electrochemical engineer and the inventor of chromium plating, but he had three other passions that ultimately led him and his son Alan to create Midtown: building things, real estate development and playing tennis. The family business started in the middle of the last century with Louis' son, Kevie (pronounced KEE-vee). In 2016, Midtown Athletic Clubs brought in $103 million, according to the Top 100 Clubs form submitted by company. But his grandson and great-grandson today are at the helm of the company, which owns and manages fitness facilities, corporate fitness centers and employee wellness programs as well as licenses tennis products and teaching programs. In fact, Louis likely had no inkling there would even be something called the fitness industry let alone Midtown Athletic Clubs or TCA. One hundred years ago when Louis Schwartz was earning a living washing windows in the Bronx, he likely had no idea that one day his grandson Alan and great-grandson Steven would own and run one of the largest and highest revenue-generating businesses in the fitness industry, TCA, which does business as Midtown Athletic Clubs and Midtown Health. Rather, we present the human-interest story, which, after all, is about interesting humans. The series has been made possible by the generous sponsorship of Sports & Fitness Insurance Corp. and ABC Financial Services, Inc. Editors' Note: This is the first in an ongoing series examining the family side of the fitness business where passionate fitness entrepreneurs have instilled the love of fitness to the next generation. This series is not about the achievements of these families (easily found via websites or a Google search).
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