Kings Of Fitness In Asia: Two California Natives Take World Gym to Number One in Taiwan

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Taipei 101, the world’s tallest building, will soon have one of America’s largest and oldest fitness brand names as a tenant – World Gym. With 15 locations in Taiwan, World Gym is the largest fitness chain in the country, and World Gym Taiwan is, in turn, the largest franchisee in the World Gym system, both domestic and international. The two people who accomplished this feat, Michael Sanciprian, CEO, and John Caraccio, President, are both California natives who went to Asia seeking the American Dream in the international fitness market and have achieved it. ‘We started with one location in one city and worked our way from there,’ says Caraccio who founded the company in 2004 and has expanded into 5 cities with annual revenues of over US$42 million. Sanciprian says, ‘The key ingredient to success in the international markets is to remember what works in the US market and to stick with it, despite all the cultural and demographic differences that bombard you when you get off the plane.’ During the toughest economical time over the past 2 years World Gym Taiwan has doubled the company size and tripled it revenue. When asked how did they accomplished that Sanciprian says, ” We had two choices, one, sit on the side line and wait it out or, two, be aggressive and take advantage of all the great realestate plays and that is what we did”. Caraccio added, “We were able to get rents 70 percent off from what they were 2 years ago and that was key” The World Gym Taiwan formula has been to make the clubs exciting, full of color and lots of energy. Sanciprian says, ‘when you walk into one of our clubs it feels like you are in Las Vegas or at a rock concert. We are very disciplined in the size of our locations and we focus on low rents. Caraccio says, ‘Every year we are able to learn new ways to operate cheaper and more efficiently in order to increase the profitability of each club. It was also part of my strategic growth formula when I brought on my CEO and Partner Michael Sanciprian 3 years ago. His 20 years of experience and his passion for this business is second to none and that was what I was looking for to lead my company to the next level.’...