FitnessTogether

‘Oh, this is way different than what I thought it would be.’ Because they can’t imagine walking into a place that has a small, well-equipped lobby, fresh flowers and fruit, a couple of pieces of cardio equipment in a warm-up area with flat panel TVs. Most other places are big open spaces and they’ve got a lot of other things going on, besides personal training. And, for this type of consumer, who’s going to spend $500 a month to train with our brand, that’s really important. They don’t want to walk into some haphazardly thrown-together space that doesn’t make them feel that they’re getting their mon- ey’s worth. They’re looking for a certain level of appointment that we provide. BVM: How many Fitness Together locations are there and where are they? Wendrych: We have 152 locations and they’re all franchise locations.We’re all over the coun- try, but we have a particular concentration in the northeastern part of the country, specifical- ly in Massachusetts, where we have nearly 50 studios, alone. It’s been a very good market for us. Outside of Massachusetts, it’s pretty evenly distributed throughout the rest of the country between the southeast, Midwest, and then up in the northwest. BVM: What do you look for in a potential franchisee? Wendrych: The common theme is either FITNESS TOGETHER you’re from a fitness background or you’re somebody who’s a fitness enthusiast and you want to be part of our business model.What we look for are people who have those qualities and are passionate about what we do. Obviously they have to have the financial means to be able to open a Fitness Togeth- er location. And they should have the ability and temperament to manage their employees. Beyond that, it’s having the common sense to follow the model. Fitness Together is a very simple model. It doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it’s a simple model. You’re not dealing with cash; you’re setting appointments with people and you’re selling them packages. It’s a pretty pre- dictable model. The majority of our system are owner-opera- tors with a single location. And what we found is that it works very well with owner-operators because of the personal nature of the business, as well as the ability to form relationships with members. About 25 percent of our owners own multiple locations. Obviously, they’re participat- ing a little bit differently than somebody who just owns a single location. If they own multiple locations, they often have a manager at one of the locations and manage the other locations on a day-to-day basis. So, we’re targeting peo- ple who are going to be actively involved with the business – even if they have a manager