Name: Can Planet Fitness Survive Stay-At-Home Orders?
Uploaded: 2021-04-26T04:53:07.000Z
Duration: 15 min 47 s
Description: VoiceTubeの動画で発音を聞きながら英語表現を覚えよう！学べる英語：

Trying to stay in shape during a pandemic means lifting dumbbells in

front of the bedroom mirror, taking Pilates classes in the living

room on Facebook live, and long runs in the park wearing a mask.

By early April 2020, almost all of the 40,000+ health clubs in the

1 out of every 5 Americans needed to find a new place to sweat.

gyms have lost more than $10 billion dollars in revenue as of August

And according to the International Health, Racquet and Sports Club

Association, without additional federal funds, about 25% of clubs

In the meantime, Peloton's sales have surged as people convert their

Covid-19 has thrown the gym industry into a tailspin, wreaking havoc

on some of the biggest names in fitness, including Gold's Gym and 24

Hour Fitness. Planet Fitness has also had to shut its doors for

months. But unlike its rivals, the company is poised to sprint past

Planet Fitness is the purple and yellow gym, where a basic monthly

membership runs $10 bucks a month and the staff gives away free pizza

and bagels. "You know, I really feel that a situation like this,

people really realize how important fitness is in health and

wellness, and there are studies that show all the time that working

You know, I think Planet Fitness, because of our economics our strong

franchise system, we're well-positioned to weather the storm."

Planet Fitness reported 53 consecutive quarters of positive same-store

sales growth before Covid-19 hit in March 2020.

But analysts say, without the rollout of a vaccine, it could be until

the end of 2021 before the company reaches pre-pandemic levels of

profitability. So despite the dire situation in the gym industry, can

And what does social distancing mean for the future of working out?

Planet Fitness's origins can be traced back to Dover, New Hampshire in

In 1993, brothers Michael and Mark Grondahl hired UNH student and

future CEO Chris Rondeau to work the front desk at their gym.

The club looked a lot like its competitors: stacks of free weights, a

But the trio realized that to expand their clientele beyond the

limited pool of power lifters and Tae Bo enthusiasts, they would need

to go after the 80 to 85% of the population that didn't go to the

gym. They canceled classes, ditched oversize dumbbells, and shifted

resources to cardio and circuit training.

"Back then, there was only 15% had a gym membership, today still only

So we started dropping prices that'd get people off the couch and

living out of desperation. We weren't going to make it anyway, so we

had to lose. So, we dropped the price and decided if we had a lot of

volume and really figured out the model of catering to first timers

Planet Fitness is different than other gyms.

Its basic membership is $10 dollars a month, well below the industry

It gives out free pizza and bagels once a month and has lunk alarms

as a reminder to power lifters who are grunting or dropping their

weights that they are intimidating their neighbors.

To keep costs low, Planet Fitness locations don't have perks like

pools and basketball courts, but the company spends big on

advertising, and that has helped membership soar.

As of June 2020, Planet Fitness had more than 15 million members at

its more than 2,000 locations, more than double the amount it had in

2015, making it one of the largest gyms in the U.S.

In the U.S., franchisees spend 2% of their monthly membership dues on

national advertising and 7% on local advertising.

From 2011 to 2019, Planet Fitness spent over $870 million dollars to

drive brand awareness, including sponsoring TV shows like "The

Biggest Loser" and "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan

Seacrest." As of 2019, 95% of Planet Fitness gyms were owned by

franchisees. "If you think about our our business model and our

marketing. A marketing machine is what I call it, okay?

So, every incremental member that joins, 9% of that dues goes to

"And so the bigger they get, the more of a marketing force they

become. And so, it is going to be pretty difficult to compete with

In addition to revenue it makes from corporate-owned gyms and

royalties from franchisees, Planet Fitness makes money selling all

those purple and yellow workout machines to its franchise partners.

In 2019, equipment sales made up 37% of the company's revenue, and

its banks on not a lot of people showing up to use them.

In 2019, Planet Fitness averaged over 7,000 members per gym.

That's a big number to fit in a 20,000 square foot space.

In fact, according to analysts, the average Planet Fitness gym member

"Our average members use it about 5 to 6 times a month, believe it or

It's very it's kind of like their second or third priority.

They've got kids, they've got a second job, they've got yard work to

do. But they get it in when they can get it in.

So it's not that 7-day-a-week person; it's a very different

customer." To help bring in new members that were unlikely to become

gym rats, the company commissioned a 2019 study that said 61% of

"I think the biggest thing that they've done is they don't compete

directly, for the most part, with other gym chains for customers.

They acquire the majority of their customers from the couch, so to