While Dubai and Abu Dhabi trade blows about being the entertainment capital of the UAE, the calmer emirate of Sharjah, quietly goes about its business.
But much like Tommy Hull’s eye opening revelation when traversing through the Nevada desert and thus building the first ever hotel in what would become Las Vegas, American businessman and entrepreneur, Oweis Zahran, saw a similar opportunity in Sharjah. However, unlike one-time smash-and-grab opportunists, Zahran has laid down some serious roots in the emirate (with multiple businesses in the automotive sector), before turning his attention into an entirely different venture: gyms.
Enter Platform Health Club. A network of high-tech gyms spreading across Sharjah, that not only allow people to work out, but focus on building positive communities based on better mental and physical health.
“We identified a major gap in the Sharjah fitness market,” Zahran explains. “There were loads of people who would drive an hour down the road from Sharjah to Dubai to go to the gym, which we thought was crazy. So we wanted to plug that gap.”
Any urban commuter will know that getting in your extracurricular, albeit essential, post-work activities can be arduously time consuming. And for those on the popular cross-emirate commute, Zahran realised the importance of granting them a gym of their own, one they wouldn’t have to share with the flashy Dubai-dwellers.
“The gym has been doing really well simply because fitness is an essential part of life,” Zahran adds. “And when you have to drive 40-50 minutes to get to a gym, it can demotivate and kill the initiative entirely.”
Boasting two indoor Padel courts; more weight machines, dumbbells, battle ropes and treadmills than you can count with personal trainers available ‘round the clock’ it is proving to be a ‘build it and they will pump’, mentality.
“What we’ve been surprised by is popularity of the smoothie bar and cafe that we have built into our offering,” says Zahran. He explains how the focus on low-calorie, healthy food, has started attracting not only members, but also non-gym goers to dine at the cafe and use it as a growing community meet up spot.
“We’re pretty laidback as a membership,” he says of the place where the only password required is a good attitude and a desire to push yourself to a better place than you were yesterday.
“The city of Sharjah has given me so much, so I am proud to have been able to build something that not only give something back, but has started to turn heads in Dubai and attract crowds from there to the Sharjah.”
