Alex Rodriguez, the former New York Yankees slugger known as A-Rod, is borrowing a page from the "Grave Dancer," Sam Zell, and looking to capitalize on today's struggling retail environment.
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The former pro athlete, who was suspended from the 2014 baseball season for using performance-enhancing drugs, is in the process of scouting out at least a dozen locations for his new UFC-branded gyms, Bloomberg reports. This pivot into the entrepreneurial is made all the more possible with real estate mogul Warren Buffett, whom A-Rod considers a mentor, at your side, and considering the availability of retail real estate because of store closures.
Rodriguez already owns and operates a chain of gyms in Mexico called Energy, but is now focusing his own energy on this new initiative, which will begin in the South Florida area.
Noting the growing number of shuttered brick-and-mortar retail stores, Rodriguez, along with business partner Mark Mastrov, are pushing forward to draft letters of intent for several spaces in the 40K SF range over the next few months.
The two have already taken over one location in Rodriguez’s hometown of Kendall, Florida, and will be celebrating the grand opening of their first UFC gym this week.
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