Virgin Active to open ‘value’ clubs with cheaper rates

THE health and fitness club race has begun, with Virgin Active SA firing the first salvo by confirming it would be opening at least 100 “value” clubs within three to five years specifically catering for the emerging middle class.

 

Virgin Active SA MD Ross Faragher-Thomas said last week that the new-concept club would cost “substantially less” than the average Virgin Active club membership, without giving details on when the roll-out would begin.

Meanwhile, rival Planet Fitness said it was looking into a franchising model for its clubs. Planet Fitness brand manager Zea Meyer last week said the fitness club chain hoped to have 40 normal-format clubs in the medium term.

“We will roll out a whole lot more clubs using the franchise model,” she said. Planet Fitness now operates 23 clubs.

Mr Faragher-Thomas said Virgin Active SA was at an advanced stage in plans to roll out the clubs, which would target emerging consumers and smaller catchment areas not penetrated by larger clubs. “The concept has been researched over the past two years and will incorporate the latest technology to keep operating costs to a minimum but will continue to deliver the core Virgin Active experience,” he said.

The new plan would not affect the company target of adding 30 bigger-format clubs in the medium term, he said. Virgin Active SA runs 98 clubs.

The new health clubs will be moulded to suit local community demographics. “Many sites have already been identified and are under consideration,” he said.

The announcement of expansion into the health club segment in SA comes after the release of a national health survey, commissioned by GlaxoSmithKline and conducted by Added Value’s South African team. The survey concluded that South Africans believe they are healthy, even when they are obese.

The survey found that 61%, or nearly two in every three, South Africans are either overweight, obese or morbidly obese. However, it also found that 74% of South Africans think that their fellow citizens are overweight, while only 34% of people consider themselves as overweight or obese.

Mr Faragher-Thomas said South Africans had become more health-and fitness-conscious in the past few years.

Though he would not confirm the size of the targeted ” emerging middle market”, he said research had shown it was a growing pool of people.

The smaller Virgin Active SA clubs would be operated as a Virgin Active sub-brand and would offer value by concentrating purely on fitness activities. They will offer lower membership fees.