April 9th was a big day for Muscletotaal, the sports nutrition store owned and run by Dutch M&F and Flex editor Harry de Jonge. In partnership with Jonathan Later from Vitamins and More, Harry brought yet another bodybuilding superstar, Phil Heath, to his shop to meet fans and customers.
In previous years Harry has invited a number high profile bodybuilders to Muscletotaal including:
6 x Mr. O Dorian Yates
4 x Mr. O Jay Cutler
New York Pro winner Roelli Winklaar
Mr. O runner up Victor Martinez
and now the reigning Mr. Olympia Phil Heath.
Harry and Jonathan hired a Hummer MV to pick Phil up from the airport. The huge American vehicle was covered with images off Phil and of course their shop logo’s. A missing bag at the airport caused a one hour delay, so by the time Phil arrived at the store hundreds of fans were already waiting to see the reigning Mr. O. When Phil finally appeared his fans gave him a huge cheer which clearly pleased him. Phil later said he was overwhelmed to see so many fans show up.
Harry had erected a large marquee next to the store where fans could queue to have a short talk with Phil, take a picture and maybe buy some merchandise from him.
While some people had to stand in line for three hours, not one complaint was heard. Karen Neumann from Weider gave visitors Protein Shakes from IQ Nutrition and the atmosphere was very relaxed. Thankfully the weather wasn’t too bad, a little rain was not enough to spoil the day. Phil had plenty of time for everyone and spent up to10 minutes talking to each person. He took only one short break and told Harry he was very happy to meet these friendly Dutch people and that they bought more from him then he expected!
By 6:30pm all the fans had finally been able to met Phil. He stayed for another 30 minutes to talk to Harry and Johnathan and told them how pleased he was with the day. “In the USA we do not get as many people at store appearances as here.” Something that Jay Cutler confirmed last year!
At 7pm and after a meal of chicken, rice and vegetables Phil left with Jonathan and company in the Hummer. During the next two days he had appearances in Jonathan’s stores before flying back to Denver, USA.
The store did good business that day, but more importantly was the fact that once again people will talk about Muscletotaal as being one of the few true bodybuilding stores in Holland were you can always can get an effective diet plan or training programme and were you can meet fellow bodybuilders and strength fanatics - and once in a while, the biggest names is the sport of bodybuilding.
Who will visit Muscletotaal next year?
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