About Us
Purpose Statement: Improving Lives Through Health and Fitness
This statement is both simple and direct. We want our members' lives to be better as a consequence of utilizing the services and facilities of the Little Rock Racquet Club. The club's goal is to create a positive, nurturing environment stressing the mental, physical, and emotional benefits of leading an active, participatory, and health conscious lifestyle.
Guiding Values
- We are keenly aware of and responsive to our members' needs/complaints.
This value reminds us always to stay open-minded and listen carefully to our members. While it can be difficult to receive criticism, nothing is more crucial to correcting deficiencies within our operation than a member notifying us that something is wrong. It is then incumbent upon us to correct the shortcoming in a timely manner.
- We hire service-oriented staff and train them to provide unsurpassed service to the membership.
Good service is first and foremost a willingness to take care of others. Some people simply seemed wired to be good service providers. Those are the individuals we want to hire. When we hire employees who have a "service attitude" we must then train them how to utilize their positive mind-set within our system.
- Cleanliness and maintenance is critical to our success and everyone's job.
Keeping the Club clean and all the equipment functioning is an ongoing challenge. After all, over a thousand people visit the LRAC on a typical day - to sweat and utilize the equipment. This value recognizes that members deserve to work out in a clean environment and have equipment that operates properly. It further acknowledges that keeping the facility in order is every employee's responsibility.
- It is essential that we operate with integrity at all times.
This guideline reflects the role that ethics plays within our business. Whether it involves members, vendors or employees, it is critical that our conduct be honest and fair-minded. This "golden rule" of behavior is just good business and always pays off in the long run.
- Teamwork is paramount to our success.
Our organization is made up of twelve separate divisions and nearly 200 full and part-time employees. Each division has its own budget, manager and priorities. This guideline means that in order for our Club to flourish, each division and all employees must operate interdependently. Functioning as a team requires good communication and an ability to maintain focus on the goals of the overall organization.
- The work we do makes a positive difference in our members' lives.
This final Guiding Value relates to our Purpose Statement and reminds us of the life affirming nature of our business. It is the "icing on the cake". We are fortunate to provide a service that is both beneficial to our members and a pleasure to deliver.
While it would be an overstatement to suggest that we unfailingly live up to all these standards, their existence helps us correct course when we lose our way. Furthermore, by sharing these ideals here, we become more accountable to you and thereby move closer to achieving our mutual goals.
History
The most recent addition to our family of clubs, the LRRC actually has the oldest heritage. Built in 1967 as the first non-country club facility to offer tennis and swimming, the Racquet Club was run by a Board of Directors and owned by its members.
Prosperous and self sustaining for many years, the Racquet Club began to struggle in the ‘90’s. Unable to reinvest enough capital to keep the club up to date resulted in a slow but steady diminishment in membership numbers.
In 1999 the Club’s board approached our company to consider a merger or a sale. After the membership of the Racquet Club voted in favor of a sale, Riley's Health and Fitness Center (RHFC) purchased the assets of the Little Rock Racquet Club in October, 1999.
In the year 2000, a total renovation of the Racquet Club’s 18,000 square foot clubhouse occurred. A major thrust of the renovation was to add a first class fitness offering to augment the Club’s wonderful tennis and swimming facilities. Once completed, the Club changed its name to the Little Rock Racquet Club and Fitness Center.
When the Club was purchased in 1999, membership stood at approximately 425. The LRRC/FC’s current membership is over 1,300.
