Fitness Movin' & Shaking': Greg Ruffer, True Fitness, Chris Cox, Colorado Home Fitness, BH Fitness, Bally, and more…

Greg Ruffer has parted ways with Pronto Installation in Southern California due to the economic times, he told SNEWS®. “The economy has touched every facet of our industry and sacrifices must be made,” he said. “My services will no longer be needed at Pronto Installation.” Formerly a longtime manager at now-defunct LA Gym Equipment and a two-decade fitness industry professional, Ruffer’s last day was June 19. He can be reached at gregruffer@att.net…. BH Fitness North America has added two new sales reps: Erick Anderson, formerly sales with Volume Fitness, is now Northwest sales manager. He can be reached at erickanderson@bhnorthamerica.com. And Ray Barone, formerly of ProSpot, has taken over the Southwestern region. He is at raybarone@bhnorthamerica.com….

Katy Cushing is the new marketing and human resources director at True Fitness. She can be reached at kcushing@truefitness.com…. Chris Cox has joined Dyaco, parent of Spirit Fitness, as the new vice president of product development. A year ago Cox took a sabbatical from the industry and his post at Vision Fitness where he was director of marketing and product development. He can be reached at chris@dyaco.com.tw…. Chris Pietsch, formerly of both Horizon Fitness and Nautilus, has recently taken on the role of general manager at CardioVision (www.cardiovision.com), which has the tagline, “Combining State-of-the-Art Entertainment with the Fitness Industry and More.”

Colorado Home Fitness (www.coloradohomefitness.com) has opened as of June 2. The grand opening of Chip Hunnings’ new store in Englewood, Colo. (Click here to read an April 1, 2009, SNEWS story, “New retail venture Colorado Home Fitness in planning stages”), was set for June 20…. While opening one store, Hunnings has also closed another All About Fitness in Kansas City, Mo. With the lease expiring, he told SNEWS he would close it over the slow summer months and plan to reopen in the fall in another location…. On the opposite coast, U.S. Fitness (www.usfitness.com), in which he is a partner, has moved its Raleigh, N.C., location and expanded to an 11,500-square-foot store including retail, warehouse space and offices as well as a personal training studio….

Gregg Hartley is no longer with the SGMA, taking on a consulting role and also managing research for Sports Marketing Surveys…. Steve Lindenau’s Teutonic Sales has hired Tricia Christianson as a sales representative, overseeing inside sales and service. Christianson was a long-time employee of Vision Fitness. Teutonic (www.teutonicsales.com) has also signed a long-term contract with Joe Marcoux of Just Did It consulting to provide sales training and support…. Mark de Gorter has been appointed president of Power Plate North America. He has held executive positions with LA Gear, MetRx, Bally Total Fitness and Velocity Sports Performance….

Fitness Holdings International’s next court hearing in its ongoing bankruptcy reorganization case is slated for July 28, the third rescheduled deadline for the company to file its reorganization plan. As of May 21, its creditors had filed a lawsuit. (Click here to see a May 22, 2009, SNEWS story, “FHI creditors sue owner Hancock Park et al claiming fraudulence prior to bankruptcy.”)… Bally Total Fitness has signed a statement agreeing on a plan to exit from its bankruptcy protection that was filed in December 2008. (Click here to read a Dec. 4, 2009, “Bally Total Fitness files for Ch. 11 reorganization — again.”) In that arrangement (still to be approved by the court), senior lenders will get most of the operator’s equity.

–Therese Iknoian

Got any news or tips about somebody, some product, or some company doing some moving or shaking? Let us know so we can slip it into our occasional Movin’ & Shakin’ updates. Just email snewsbox@snewsnet.com.