Action LIFE intends to hold Alexander members

Action LIFE (亞健康) plans to retain 60 percent of the failed Alexander Group's (亞力山大集團) old members at its newly opened health clubs by offering special discounts, a company executive said yesterday.

Starting Monday, former Alexander members will be able to apply for new memberships at Action LIFE for a fee of NT$1,200 a month -- a discount of NT$2,600 valid until the end of next year -- at its outlets at Taipei World Trade Center, Dazhi (大直), Gongguan (公館) and Jhongli (中壢).

The new gym's standard monthly fee will be lowered to NT$3,800 during its promotional period -- which ends on June 30 -- from a normal rate of NT$4,500.

"During the promotional period, former Alexander members will only have to pay NT$1,200 per month as opposed to the NT$3,800 promotional price for our new members," Liang Mu-chun (梁木春), chief executive officer of Action LIFE, said yesterday at a press briefing.

Action LIFE's four new outlets will start operating by the end of this month. The company plans to retain approximately 60 percent of Alexander's old members, estimated to be between 36,000 to 40,000 members, Liang said.

Aside the four new outlets, Action LIFE has three other locations -- Kaohsiung SOGO department store, Jhonghe (中和) and Dunhua S Road -- that are still in the process of negotiating with landlords, but will likely start operating by May, Lilyan Wang (王鳳鳴), manager of Action LIFE's operating and marketing department, said yesterday.

Action LIFE has about 300 employees, 80 percent of whom worked for Alexander, Wang said.