High-value fitness chains may be one of the more healthy segments to eventually emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. The future of fitness centers was uncertain during closures but signs of life are resurfacing as states re-open, especially those less impacted by the SARS-CoV-2. Generally, gyms are re-opening with limited a number of clients and pre-scheduled appointment times. Even high-end luxury brands have invested in value-priced gyms, such as Life Time Fitness’s acquisition of Crunch Fitness last year and Equinox has its budget-minded spinoff chain, Blink Fitness. Look for Crunch Fitness and Blink, as well as Planet Fitness, Retro Fitness, EoS Fitness and VASA Fitness, to all expand. All of these chains have memberships starting at about $10, with additional services available for a fee.
A renewed interest in health and wellness in light of COVID-19 concerns coincides with the slow re-opening of fitness centers. Amid economic uncertainty and pandemic-related layoffs, value-priced gyms are especially attractive to consumers. Fitness chains remain appealing as tenants because their high-traffic counts do not conflict with peak hours for other tenants within the same shopping center.
Planet Fitness hopes to open 200 to 250 new units per year over the next 10 years throughout the U.S., especially in dense urban markets where it is underrepresented. Its prototypical gyms range from 10,000 to 30,000 s.f., with a preference for a five-mile population of 60,000. Suitable locations range widely, from urban street fronts, regional power centers, malls, suburban grocery-anchored strip centers and freestanding boxes. Planet Fitness requires at least 100 parking spaces. The chain last year agreed to a deal with Kohl’s through which it will lease space next to 10 Kohl’s stores that had been downsized. Planet Fitness has also found success in outdoor mall space, including former Sears and Toys ‘R’ Us units. Its gyms do not need the square footage for swimming pools or basketball courts.
Crunch Fitness expects to open up to 100 new units over the next five to 10 years. With 225 locations in 30 states, it wants to grow, especially in both Atlanta and Florida. Ideal locations include regional or neighborhood strip centers or freestanding buildings. Demographics should include a daily traffic count of 30,000-plus vehicles and a population of 50,000-plus within three miles.
Retro Fitness is on a push to expand with an expectation of opening 200 new gyms during the next two years. Chicago, Houston and southeast Florida are all being eyed for new units in the near future. Northern California, Virginia, North Carolina and Washington, D.C., are on its list for new growth beyond 2022. The chain seeks 15,000 to 17,000 s.f. in either inline space or freestanding buildings.
Blink Fitness is eyeing locations in Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Kansas City, Kan., Kansas City, Mo., Charlotte, N.C., and Connecticut for immediate growth. Blink anticipates opening 100 new units per year over the next two years, and heading into 2021 and beyond, the brand will be looking for sites in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Georgia and South Carolina. With its gyms ranging from 12,000 to 18,000 s.f., Blink seeks highly visible space with grocery- or big-box anchored co-tenants in dense downtown street-front locations, on freestanding pads in suburban retail centers, and in inline space within mixed-use developments. Blink Fitness currently has 112 locations in ten states (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, California, Michigan, Virginia and Illinois).
EoS Fitness is on track for growth and plans to open 30 to 35 units each year over the next three years. The fitness center chain, with 75 units mainly throughout California, Nevada and Arizona, currently eyes expansion throughout Florida and Utah. Its gyms average 50,000 s.f., and generally are placed in redeveloped malls. EoS is in talks to move into a 44,000-s.f. space formerly slated for an Orchard Supply Hardware store in Florida’s Orlando Fashion Square mall and next to a Floor & Décor.
Expect VASA Fitness to open a total of 10 to 15 units per year over the next three years. It will specifically want more sites in Wisconsin and Illinois during that time, building upon its first locations opening this year in New Berlin, Wisc., and Joliet, Ill. Utah and Indiana will also get new units during the next one to two years. Expect additional Midwest states to be part of VASA’s expansion over the next five years.
With an average square footage of about 60,000 s.f., VASA looks for space in outdoor shopping malls, either standalone buildings or inline space. The chain has had success utilizing former grocery stores, such as the 60,000-s.f. former Kroger store it moved into in Indianapolis last December. By early 2021, the brand also expects to open a gym in a former Marsh supermarket in Fishers, Ind., after demolishing 20,000 s.f. of the space to provide additional parking. VASA has 45 locations in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma and Utah.
High-End Concepts Continue to Grow
Despite higher membership and class fees, Orangetheory Fitness and the RockBox Fitness and Stride brands will need new locations to support planned growth. Orangetheory is still in expansion mode and anticipates opening 250 new units per year over the next three years. Its units average 3,200 s.f. and require at least 25 parking spaces. They can fit into urban street-front and suburban strip mall locations in upscale neighborhoods within both established and growing markets. Though its 1,300 studios are evenly spread through all 50 states, Orangetheory expects to place additional infill units where it already has a presence, especially within its more densely populated urban locations. The fitness chain is currently eyeing space in the Northeast, namely upstate New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Maryland. Orangetheory was the first tenant named to lease a 3,600-s.f. space in a new mixed-use development in south Baltimore expected to open in 2021.
Look for RockBox Fitness to add 10 to 12 new units in the Midwest and the South over the next three years. It’s currently eyeing potential sites in the greater Columbus, Ohio, area, Rochester, Minn., and Tyler, Texas. It is also seeking space in Alabama, especially near Montgomery, Mobile and Birmingham, and wants to add gyms in Georgia, near Decatur. RockBox looks for inline strip center space of 3,000 to 4,000 s.f. in outer urban, college-friendly communities experiencing major retail growth. Because of the club’s group fitness class concept, its need for new space is contingent on the easing of social distance rules. The brand currently has 17 units in six states in the Southeast and West.
Stride is on the cusp of expansion with strong plans in place for this year, including six units expected in California, five in Illinois, two in Texas, and additional growth expected in Tennessee, Oklahoma, Indiana, Arizona and Florida. Its basic layout requires 2,500 s.f., with a preference for locations in downtown street-front shopping districts and upscale inline strip malls with heavy foot traffic. The Stride concept focuses on treadmills for its 45-minute workouts, and the franchisor currently has three locations in Southern California.
