Exercise entrepreneur pumps up all over again

Count Geoff Dyer as another Gulf Coast executive-entrepreneur who couldn't stay away from the business life for long.

Dyer founded Lifestyle Family Fitness, a St. Petersburg-based chain of gyms he helped grow to 55 stores and more than $100 million in annual revenues. (Irvine, Calif.-based L.A. Fitness bought all 32 Lifestyle Family Fitness locations in Florida in a deal announced June 18. Financial terms weren't disclosed.)

Dyer, the Business Review's Entrepreneur of the Year for the Tampa region in 2007, retired from day-to-day CEO activities at Lifestyle Family Fitness in October that year. Then 56, he wanted to tackle the cliche-laden list nearly every new retiree strives for: Slow down, enjoy life, and, specifically for Dyer, spend more time with his two teenage sons.