The Lucille Roberts' Story

Lucille’s beginnings date back to World War II, when she and her family fled war-torn Eastern Europe for America. She was just a 13 year old child who couldn’t speak English when she settled in Brooklyn, New York. Yet, by the time she was 18; she was granted Citizenship and was accepted to Penn State University!

After Graduating College, she worked in retail sales but hated it! She was always looking to help women, so selling them overpriced stuff every day just wasn’t her thing.   In those days (the late 1960’s), there were only a few gyms, and most women never exercised! After working out at an aerobics studio in New York City and discovering how great it was, Lucille began teaching her own classes there.

By 1970, her exercise classes became famous with young women in NYC who wanted a fun way to stay in shape.   So, she opened the first Lucille Roberts Health Club across the street from Macy’s department store in New York City.   Lucille believed that women needed an affordable, comfortable environment where they could exercise, lose weight, and have fun doing it!

Word quickly spread in New York City about this great new gym created for women, by women. After a few years of success at the first club, she opened four more in New York and Long Island! By 1975, Lucille Roberts Health Clubs was a recognized brand in the NYC metro area.

Today, Lucille Roberts Health Clubs has nearly 50 locations, and hundreds of thousands of active members in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Her work has made Lucille Roberts Health Clubs one of the top 10 clubs chains nationally, and they are ranked #1 in value by fitness magazines every year.

The overwhelming success of Lucille Roberts Health Clubs is simple: provide women with a place that they can call their own - no men, no make-up, no fancy workout gear, nothing that would make a woman self-conscious. These principles are why women loved her first club, and why so many women love Lucille Roberts today!