Planet Fitness

Last updated

Planet Fitness, Inc.
Planet Fitness
Company type Public
Industry Fitness
Founded1992;32 years ago (1992)
Founders
  • Michael Grondahl
  • Marc Grondahl
  • Rich Berks
[1]
Headquarters Hampton, New Hampshire, U.S.
Number of locations
2,400 [2]
Area served
North America
Dominican Republic
Australia
Key people
Colleen Keating (CEO) [3]
Number of employees
3,411 (2023) [4]
Website planetfitness.com

Planet Fitness, Inc. is an American franchisor and operator of fitness centers based in Hampton, New Hampshire. [5] The company has around 2,400 clubs, [2] making it one of the largest fitness club franchises by number of members and locations. The franchise has locations in the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Panama, Mexico, and Australia. [6] It markets itself as a "Judgement Free Zone" that caters to novice and casual gym users.

Contents

History

In 1992, Planet Fitness founders Michael and Marc Grondahl acquired a struggling Gold's Gym franchise in Dover, New Hampshire. [7] They eventually closed that original location, opened a gym called Coastal Fitness and brought on a third partner, former CEO Chris Rondeau. [8] [7] In 2002, they purchased the rights to the name Planet Fitness from Rick Berks and renamed their franchise. [7]

Berks had started his own Planet Fitness gym in 1993 in Sunrise, Florida, and eventually expanded it to three clubs, along with a Gold's Gym franchise. [9] [10] The company name was derived from his daughter's school project, which was titled "Fitness Planet". [11]

As early as March 2015, the "Judgement Free Zone" policy was expanded to allow trans women to use the women's locker room. The policy states that "members and guests may use all gym facilities based on their sincere self-reported gender identity." [12]

In the fall of 2013, TSG Consumer Partners LLC became an equity partner in the Planet Fitness franchise. [13] Michael Grondahl, co-founder of Planet Fitness stepped down as CEO, and was succeeded by Chris Rondeau. [14] [15] The company went public on August 6, 2015. [16]

In September 2024, National Fitness Partners acquired over 20 Planet Fitness Clubs across the United States. [17]

Marketing

Planet Fitness' business model focuses on the needs of occasional or first-time health club members, rather than more experienced members. [18] In 2003, Planet Fitness opened its first franchised location in Florida. [19]

Criticism and controversies

Planet Fitness has alienated many serious weightlifters. The gym utilizes a "lunk alarm", which is a loud siren and rotating light that may be used when a gymgoer grunts too loudly or drops weights. [20]

Planet Fitness has been criticized for prohibiting certain weightlifting exercises—such as deadlifts and clean-and-jerks—that many experts believe are highly effective. [21] In 2010, Men's Health magazine called Planet Fitness "the worst gym in America." [21]

In March 2020, the company was criticized for charging its customers membership dues despite the nationwide closure of all of its facilities due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold's Gym</span> American chain of international fitness centers

Gold's Gym International, Inc. is an American chain of international co-ed fitness centers originally started by Joe Gold in Venice Beach, California. Each gym offers a variety of cardio and strength training equipment as well as group exercise programs. Gold's Gym's has its headquarters in Dallas and is now owned by the German RSG Group.

World Gym International LLC is an American fitness center founded in 1976 by Joe Gold during the glory days of "Muscle Beach" in Venice Beach, California. Joe Gold is also the founder of Gold's Gym, another unaffiliated gym chain, which he sold in 1973. The gym was often frequented by celebrities and famous bodybuilders such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Dave Draper and Franco Columbu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fitness First</span> British multinational fitness center chain

Fitness First is an international fitness centre brand founded in 1993 in the United Kingdom. The company owned and operated its clubs around the world until financial pressures saw parts of the company sold off to various owners in different regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">24 Hour Fitness</span> Fitness center chain

24 Hour Fitness is a privately held and operated fitness center chain headquartered in Carlsbad, California. It is the second largest fitness chain in the United States based on revenue after LA Fitness, and the fourth in number of clubs, operating 287 clubs across 11 U.S. states. The company was originally founded by Mark S. Mastrov and was sold to Forstmann Little & Co in 2005, and then to AEA investors and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curves International</span> International fitness center chain (US founded 1992)

Curves International, also known as Curves for Women, Curves Fitness, or just Curves, is an international fitness franchise co-founded by Gary and Diane Heavin in 1992. As of May 31, 2019, Curves lists 367 franchise locations open in the United States on their Facebook page.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LA Fitness</span> Health club chain in the United States and Canada

LA Fitness is an American gym chain with over 750 clubs across the United States and Canada. The company was founded in 1984 and is based in Irvine, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Town Sports International Holdings</span> U.S. fitness center company

Town Sports International Holdings is an operator of fitness centers in Florida and in Puerto Rico. Its current brands include Liv Fitness Clubs, Palm Beach Sports Clubs, and Christi's Fitness. Former brands include New York Sports Clubs, Boston Sports Clubs, Philadelphia Sports Clubs, Washington Sports Clubs, Lucille Roberts, TMPL Gym and Total Woman Gym and Spa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vic Tanny</span> American bodybuilder (1912–1985)

Victor "Vic" Tanny was an American bodybuilder, entrepreneur and physical culture advocate. He is considered a pioneer of the modern health club.

CrossFit is a branded fitness regimen that involves constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. The method was developed by Greg Glassman, who founded CrossFit with Lauren Jenai in 2000, with CrossFit its registered trademark. The company forms what has been described as the biggest fitness chain in the world, with around 12,000 affiliated gyms in over 150 countries as of 2022, under half of which are located in the United States.

Snap Fitness is a privately-owned global chain of 24/7 fitness centers headquartered in Chanhassen, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 2003 by Peter Taunton and currently operates over 1,000 locations in over 20 countries across 5 continents, with over half a million members. It received the “Best Fitness Franchise” by Global Franchise in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Fitness</span> Gym franchise based in East Asia

California Fitness was a fitness company based in Hong Kong. It opened its first club in 1996 at the business district of Hong Kong near Lan Kwai Fong. There were 16 clubs in Hong Kong, Singapore and China. California Fitness was acquired in 1999 by 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide, which sold it to the Ansa Group in 2012.

Equinox Holdings, Inc. is an American luxury fitness company and health club headquartered in New York City, New York. The company operates more than 300 club facilities in major cities in the United States, as well as in London, Toronto, and Vancouver in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crunch Fitness</span> Membership-based fitness and training gym

Crunch Fitness is a U.S.-based brand of over 400 franchised and corporate owned fitness clubs located in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Costa Rica, and Australia. Founded by Doug Levine in 1989, its current Worldwide CEO is Jim Rowley.

Physique 57 is a global fitness and media company headquartered in New York City with studios and proprietary and third party digital platforms. It has corporate-owned and franchised studios in the US, the United Arab Emirates, India, and Thailand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anytime Fitness</span> American multinational fitness center chain

Anytime Fitness Franchisor, LLC, doing business as Anytime Fitness, is an American franchise of 24 hour health and fitness clubs that is based in Woodbury, Minnesota, United States. The company operates over 5,000 franchised locations in 50 countries. In 2014, Anytime Fitness was named the top franchise of 2014 by Entrepreneur magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hard Candy Fitness</span> American fitness center chain

Hard Candy Fitness was a chain of fitness centres that were a partnership between Madonna, her manager Guy Oseary and Mark Mastrov, the founder and CEO of 24 Hour Fitness. Founded in 2010, the venture had centres in Berlin, Mexico City, Moscow, Rome, Santiago, St. Petersburg, and Sydney. The company's name was a reference to Madonna's 2008 studio album Hard Candy. The German division went into administration in 2016 and closed its studios that year. That same year, the location in Toronto was rebranded as Aura Fitness after the initial media attention didn't translate into gym memberships. The only club remaining in operation as of 2019 was in Santiago, Chile, which rebranded as Energy Sport Club in May 2019.

YouFit Gyms is a national chain of fitness clubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PureGym</span> Fitness club chain in the United Kingdom

PureGym Limited is a British chain of no-frills health clubs, headquartered in Leeds. It is Britain's largest gym chain by membership, with over 1,500,000 members registered to their gyms. PureGym also operate gyms in 8 more countries and have over 500 locations worldwide; the newest territory, the UAE, opened in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F45 Training</span> Australian-based fitness studio franchise

F45 Training is an Australian franchiser and operator of fitness centers based in Austin, Texas. It has over 2,000 studios in over 60 countries across Australia/Oceania, North America, South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. The fitness franchise was launched in 2011 by Adam Gilchrist and Rob Deutsche. It was ranked the fastest growing fitness franchise in the US in 2021, one of the fastest globally. It has around 2,000 studios worldwide, including approximately 500 studios in Australia and about 1,000 studios in the United States as of 2023.

References

  1. ↑ "At Youfit Health Clubs, patrons can feel the burn without bells, whistles".
  2. 1 2 "Planet Fitness Sets New Membership Records". Fitt Insider. February 28, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Planet Fitness Names Colleen Keating Chief Executive Officer". Planet Fitness. April 16, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Planet Fitness, Inc. (PLNT)". stockanalysis.com.
  5. ↑ Sullivan, Max (November 10, 2016). "Planet Fitness headquarters moving to Hampton". Seacoast online.com. GateHouse Media. Archived from the original on September 25, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  6. ↑ Hall, Nick (December 16, 2019). "4 international franchises that landed Down Under in 2019". Inside Franchise Business. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 Turner, Jeremiah. "Fit for franchising: From first gym in Dover, Planet Fitness building big brand". fosters.com. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  8. ↑ "How Planet Fitness Became the Leader in Fitness Franchising - News". www.franchise-info.ca. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  9. ↑ "YouFit Health Club expanding across South Florida, around nation | The Starting Gate". Miami Herald. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  10. ↑ Brochu, Nicole. "No-frills gym offers fitness without flash". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Meet Youfit's CEO Rick Berks". Youfit Youniverse. February 24, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  12. ↑ Grinberg, Emanuella (March 9, 2015). "Planet Fitness revokes woman's membership after transgender complaint". CNN . Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  13. ↑ Lawrence, Kelli (August 15, 2013). "A World Of Their Own". Profile Magazine. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Planet Fitness Has New Investor; Promotes Rondeau To CEO". TSG Consumer Partners. January 17, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Former Radio Shack CFO Fills Planet Fitness Hole". The Wall Street Journal . July 26, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Planet Fitness goes public, hits mark in first day of trading". Los Angeles Times. August 6, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  17. ↑ Bell, Mac (September 17, 2024). "Pennsylvania fitness company acquires 20+ Planet Fitness locations". abc27.com. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  18. ↑ Schlossberg, Mallory (December 12, 2015). "The fastest-growing gym in America has $10 memberships and gives out free pizza, bagels, and candy". Business Insider. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  19. ↑ Taylor, Kate (July 25, 2014). "Franchise Players: We Were Planet Fitness's First Franchisees. Now, We Own 22 Locations". Entrepreneur.com. Entrepreneur Media. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  20. ↑ O'Neil, Luke (May 8, 2011). "Planet Fitness vs. the lunkheads: Why is a health club trying to alienate people who love to work out?". Slate . Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  21. 1 2 Carter, Kiera (December 29, 2010). "The Worst Gym in America?". Men's Health. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  22. ↑ Jakab, Spencer (March 23, 2020). "This Gym Chain Has Reason to Sweat". The Wall Street Journal . ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved April 30, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.