Gym owners take 'Powerhouse' worldwide

By Paul Natinsky

In the early 1970s, brothers Norm and Will Dabish returned from a martial arts training trip to Japan and opened a karate supply store in Highland Park. Amateur fighters, the pair decided to construct a gym in the back of the place to try to sell memberships. They figured the plan would pay off or they would have “the best private gym in the world,” said Will Dabish.

Norm and Will Dabish on the cover of Crain’s circa 1999

Forty-five years later, Powerhouse gym is, well, an international powerhouse with more than 300 locations in 39 states and 17 countries. Dabish said his company is the first Chaldean-owned company to go worldwide.

Success came slowly. After the gym opened in ’74, the Dabish brothers, who were living at home, began to build a following for their gym as “the” place to work out. They got a big boost from University of Michigan football players who defied legendary coach Bo Schembechler’s weightlifting ban (he thought it made players slow) and trained at Powerhouse. The players wore Powerhouse tee shirts and the brand started to grow.

Still, it was not until 1984 that Will and the late Norm expanded to open their second gym in Farmington Hills. Things moved quickly from there. In 1986, the brothers created a franchise concept and sold a license to a Lincoln Park operator. By 1989, the company had grown to 18 locations, with gyms in Boston and Florida.

The Dabish brothers do not have business degrees. Will said their business acumen is “from God.” Whatever the source, Dabish said he and his brother decided they needed to open marquee gyms at high-profile locations in major cities. A 24,000-square-foot club at Michigan Avenue and Lake Street in Chicago became the first of these “billboard gyms,” combining a quality workout facility with a promotional message in an upscale, high-traffic area. By 1995, the company had 175 locations. By 2000, the tally was up to 300.

In subsequent years, the total rose to about 350 and slowed by design. Will’s son, Henry is now CEO and Will focuses on launching a new generation of mega gyms that offer services ranging from physical therapy, basketball and racquetball courts to massage chairs and the company’s trademark FX Powerhouse workouts, which incorporate non-traditional training methods and equipment. “I plan to work forever,” said Will, 61, who works out six times a week.

The Dabish brothers, despite lack of formal training, are sophisticated marketers and promoters. They spun their high-quality workout experience into a merchandising and networking juggernaut. Affixing “guest passes” to their apparel, they distributed wearables at national and international competitions before they had expanded their gyms outside of Michigan. When bodybuilders from cities across the country and abroad called the number to find out where near them they could claim a free workout, the Dabishes explained that there was no gym near them and used the opportunity to solicit out-of-state franchisees.

Dabish said he took a chance and offered to buy a tableful of seats at a fundraiser hosted by Mr. Olympia founder and weight-training equipment magnate Joe Weider and ended up being key presenters at Weider’s competitions for 20 years.

Norm, Krystal, and Will Dabish

Powerhouse continues to find creative ways to expand its marketing message. According to its website: Powerhouse Gym entered the media business in 1992 with its publication, Powerhouse Magazine. As an annual publication, Powerhouse Magazine has proved to be a powerful marketing tool for the Licensing Division as well as motivating potential members into the facilities themselves.

Ten years later, Powerhouse TV, a personalized internal broadcast network, launched within Powerhouse Gyms across the United States creating a motivating workout environment with the ability to control advertisements, music and messages.

Innovators from the start, the Dabish brothers incorporated women into the fold when gyms like theirs were solely the province of men. Will and Norm were savvy enough to loop in their high-profile members to give them “ownership” in that decision, as well as many others over the years. Dabish says he ended up training a Detroit Lion’s cheerleader who subsequently won six Ms. Olympia titles consecutively.

The Dabishs are a traditional Chaldean family. Will and Norm’s father worked six days a week in his grocery store, with the boys giving him a break by manning the business on Sundays. The senior Dabish might not have understood the fitness industry, but as a business owner, he knew his way around a balance sheet and supported what the boys were doing.

Powerhouse and its early competitor Gold’s Gym, which started in Venice Beach, California, set the mold for modern competitors such as LA Fitness and Planet Fitness, but Dabish says his company’s honest, all-inclusive pricing at about $29 per month trumps the upselling for tiered memberships at other gyms.

As time marches forward and Powerhouse enmeshes itself in several Florida mega-gyms, Dabish vows to keep in place the high-quality equipment and training standards that propelled his company to its place on the world stage.