Projects, Arthur Benzaquen only carbs on that. Co-owner, with his brother Franck-Elie, of the Ken Group, which includes the high-end Parisian sports halls Ken Club (founded by their parents), Klay and Blanche, he recently won the tender for the major construction site. North Station. He plans to set up a club there with large outdoor spaces, including a kilometer of trail on the roof, with a breathtaking view of the Sacré-Coeur. Delivery is scheduled for 2024, the year of the Olympic Games. Until then “End of 2022 if all goes well”, he will have opened a new room on the left bank, opposite the Lutetia hotel, in a former car park.
“The start of the school year was very difficult. After months with virtually no revenue, the sports sector was the only one to close at the end of September, when no cluster had been identified. We called other room owners, the regional health agency, there was nothing, no figure proving that our spaces were places of contamination… ”Arthur Benzaquen
At Klay, Arthur Benzaquen has just started a collaboration with the freshly starred Israeli chef Assaf Granit (of the Shabour and Balagan restaurants), which should be extended to his other establishments. And, in 2019, he bought together with his brother all the CMG Sports Club (formerly Club Med Gym), “The first clubs to be established on factory, workshop and garage sites”.
His idea: to sell part of it to finance the rehabilitation of those he will keep, with a premium positioning but a more accessible subscription policy than that of the Klay or the Ken Club. “We want to embody the French touch of indoor sport, by offering real living spaces in amazing places, where to play sports, have a massage, have lunch or organize professional meetings, exactly as we do when we are at a hotel abroad ”, comments Arthur Benzaquen. Here again, in sight, the horizon of the 2024 Olympics …
It was counting without the health crisis. “We can say that we had a nose, he quips. With the heavy losses suffered in 2020, the pace of development could change. “ Since September 25, all sports halls have been closed. The reopening, in June, for the summer period, did not save much, indoor sport being traditionally neglected this season. However, the confinement of last spring, the entrepreneur had experienced it rather well, and even “Poetically”. He took the opportunity to slow down, spend time with his wife and three children.
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