California WOW

Building a Fitness Franchise

George Saab
CFO California WOW Xperience

Though I knew Mike Pallett personally prior to working with him, our first project together was the Pinklao California WOW in early 2000. He proved that he and his in-house team could manage the project professionally and exactingly from start to finish and he has built all of our fitness centers since then.

He has worked on all stages of each project, beginning with the design of the fitness club. He is able to work in a number of countries and has built projects for us in Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong and we use Mike from any project’s inception—we go to him when we are just first thinking about a new center.

ICMS is our partner in finding an ideal location. Mike and his team scout locations, and look at the potential sites from every angle. After considering every detail, it is a process of elimination and then we move on. ICMS has proved instrumental in negotiations, then we make an offer to the landlord and ICMS sets about the work of designing and working up blueprints, mechanical and engineering drawings.

He takes care of the project A through Z – construction, supervision, and design.

One area that ICMS does especially impressive work is in designing systems—heating, air-conditioning, green, water, recycled goods, all that. Because of Mike’s background in building cleanrooms, he really understands how to design an efficient system. He is very intelligent when it comes to the mechanical side of the site.

When we expanded internationally, building fitness centers in Korea, Vietnam and Hong Kong, Mike and ICMS were indispensable, as there are always challenges like getting permits, working with local labor crews and outsourcing construction. These issues were all handled expertly. Mike brings in one of his own supervisors for the project who works cohesively with the local supervisor so that we get our say in how things are done. His process also gives us more accurate reports.

Mike is honest, sincere, works with integrity and he does not cut corners to save a buck for himself. He delivers on his promises. If it isn’t up to our satisfaction, he changes it. He is easy to work with. As we continue to grow, we’ll continue to use ICMS for all of our construction management service needs.