Three publicly held companies are on the Top 100 Clubs list again this year. At No. 3 is Life Time Fitness, Chanhassen, MN, which for the third year in a row exceeded the $1 billion revenue mark. Life Time generated a reported $1.206 billion, a 7 percent increase from the previous year.
Another publicly held company, ClubCorp, Dallas, is No. 4 on the list with a reported $815.1 million in 2013 revenue. On its 10-K form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), ClubCorp broke down its revenue for 2013 into three categories: club operations ($579.8 million), food and beverage ($231.7 million) and other revenues ($3.7 million). The company, which operates golf clubs, country clubs and dining clubs, did similar breakdowns on its 10-K form for its 2012 and 2011 revenues.
The third public company on this list, Town Sports International (TSI), New York, is No. 6 with a reported $470.2 million in 2013 revenue, a 2 percent decrease from the previous year.
Three mainstays on the Top 100 Clubs list are in the top 10 this year. Planet Fitness, Newington, NH, is No. 7 with a reported $211 million in 2013 revenue, a 32 percent increase from 2012. At No. 8 is XSport Fitness, Big Rock, IL, with a reported $176 million in 2013 revenue, followed by The Bay Club Company (formerly Western Athletic Clubs), San Francisco, at No. 9 with a reported $139.5 million in 2013 revenue.
Crunch Fitness, New York, is No. 11 with $131 million in 2013 revenue, a 16 percent increase from the previous year. Crunch CEO Keith Worts attributed the increase to 12 new majority-owned clubs that opened through acquisitions and greenfield opportunities. Plus, Crunch opened 20 franchise clubs and more than doubled its franchise unit sales year over year, according to Worts.
With club companies that did not report their revenue information, Club Industry either applied an increase of 3 percent from the previous year or kept revenue flat. Club Industry left revenue for Bally Total Fitness, Chicago, at $108 million even though there likely was a decrease in the number of clubs that the company operated in 2013. Despite that, Bally ranks No. 12 on this year’s list.
Club Industry also did not change revenue for Big Vanilla Athletic Club, Pasadena, MD, which reported $11.8 million in 2012 revenue. Last year, Big Vanilla sold one of its clubs to the Y of Central Maryland. Big Vanilla is tied with Dedham Health and Athletic Complex, Dedham, MA, at No. 65 on this year’s list.
One of the new club companies on this year’s Top 100 Clubs list is CorePower Yoga, Denver, which is No. 21 with a reported $58.7 million in 2013 revenue. Another new company is Steve Nash Fitness World and Sports Club, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which is owned by New Evolution Ventures (NeV), Lafayette, CA. Steve Nash is tied with Curves for No. 24 on the list with a reported $52 million in 2013 revenue. One other new company is making a return to the Top 100 Clubs list: Lakeshore Sport and Fitness, Chicago, which is tied for No. 62 with $12.5 million in 2013 revenue.
NeV has three companies on this year’s list: Crunch, Steve Nash Fitness World and Sports Club, and UFC Gym, Santa Ana, CA, which is No. 37 with a reported $36.3 million in 2013 revenue. UFC Gym attributed its 73 percent increase in revenue to its acquisition of LA Boxing at the end of 2012.
“The UFC Gym brand continues to grow through the increase of same-store revenue, new corporate facility growth and the rapid expansion of our franchise units,” says Adam Sedlack, president of UFC Gym. “The outlook is incredibly promising as we further expand the reach of the brand both domestically and internationally.”
Significant Growth for Some Companies
A number of other club companies enjoyed double-digit or significant growth in 2013. Anytime Fitness, Hastings, MN, reported $68 million in 2013 revenue, an increase of 29 percent from 2012. Anytime added 338 new gyms and ended 2013 with 2,373 clubs, a 17 percent increase in clubs. Anytime also had an increase of 300,000 members, ending 2013 with about 1.8 million members worldwide.
“System-wide performance continues to increase with an improvement in year-over-year revenue for clubs open 12 months or longer,” Anytime Fitness co-founder and CEO Chuck Runyon says. “Club openings continue to meet or exceed expectations, and our international clubs average higher revenue per gym than our domestic units.”
Lift Brands, Chanhassen, MN, a company which includes Snap Fitness, is No. 20 on the list with a reported $66.5 million in 2013 revenue, a 37 percent increase from 2012. Peter Taunton, CEO and co-founder of Lift Brands and Snap Fitness, says the increased revenue is due to an increased number of corporate units. The company owns 140 corporate clubs.
“We had a few favorable business moves in 2013 in different areas,” Taunton says. “The increase in units worldwide and corporate club revenues, in addition to our consistency and leveraging of vertical integration within our system, has proven to be exceptional.”
Newtown Athletic Club, Newtown, PA, is No. 48 on the Top 100 Clubs list with a reported $17.6 million in 2013 revenue, a 31 percent increase. Jim Worthington, owner and president of Newtown Athletic Club, said the increase was the culmination of an expansion that began in 2011 and ended last year. The expansion changed Newtown from a multipurpose club to what he calls a “lifestyle complex.” Newtown added a 12,000-square-foot fitness center, a 40,000-square-foot sports training center and a $7 million, 80,000-square-foot outdoor pool complex.
“This redefinition of who we are, a major paradigm shift in our case, was the main catalyst for not only huge membership growth, but for the growth of our profit centers as well,” Worthington says. “We are now the all-inclusive provider of a lifestyle that includes fitness, recreation, wellness, socialization and education. In our marketplace, we offer a product that has a premium value. Our key was being able to define that product and share our message in order to drive membership growth quickly once our market understood who we had become.”
Impact of New Clubs and Increased Memberships
The opening of new clubs was a big reason why several club companies on the Top 100 Clubs list enjoyed revenue increases. The Longfellow Clubs, Wayland, MA, had a 12 percent increase to $19.2 million in 2013 revenue, placing it at No. 47 on the Top 100 Clubs list.
Longfellow Clubs President Laury Hammel says 2013 was the “best year ever in our 42-year history.” The acquisition of the Salt Lake (UT) Swimming and Tennis Club accounted for half of the revenue increase, according to Hammel. The other half of the increase, Hammel adds, was due to the company’s tennis services, personal training, children’s programs, swim lessons, and nutrition and weight-loss programs.
Akron General Health and Wellness Centers, Akron, OH, opened its third center in the third quarter of 2012 and benefitted from that addition in its first full year of operation in 2013, says Doug Ribley, senior vice president of health and wellness for the company. Akron General is No. 49 on the Top 100 Clubs list with $17.4 million in 2013 revenue, an 11 percent increase.
ACAC Fitness and Wellness Centers, Charlottesville, VA, opened a new center near Richmond, VA, at the end of 2012. ACAC, which has seven locations in Virginia and Pennsylvania, is No. 34 on the list with a reported $41.9 million in 2013 revenue, an 11 percent increase.
“In a challenging economy, we were more than pleased to see double-digit revenue growth,” ACAC owner Phil Wendel says. “We’ve been unusually successful in attracting new members through our medical networks.”
Fitness Edge LLC, Fairfield, CT, which goes by The Edge Fitness Clubs, is No. 40 on the Top 100 Clubs list with a reported $27.7 million in 2013 revenue, an 18 percent increase. The company opened one new club at the end of 2012 and another new club last July. The growth in personal training, group training and fitness programming revenues, combined with increased and repurposed square footage with added club amenities, are reasons for the revenue growth, according to the company.
“We continue to invest in our club format, expanding amenities and fee-based fitness programming, while offering a low-price membership for full-service gyms for $9.99 a month,” Fitness Edge founder Vincent Sansone says. “Our brand is resonating in the marketplace for our outstanding value, creating opportunities to grow our business and open new clubs.”
Fitness Formula Clubs (FFC), Chicago, is No. 29 on the list with a reported $45.4 million in 2013 revenue, a 9 percent increase from the previous year. CEO Gale Landers says continued reinvestment in facility improvements at each club, charging full price and not waiving or discounting joining fees, and driving group exercise attendance are some of Fitness Formula Clubs’ keys to success.
“Our team is highly committed to creating something scarce, something valuable, something that is not commoditized,” Landers says. “The results of 2013 underscored our commitment to further differentiate the FFC member experience from other options available to them.”
Bodyworks Family Sports Centers, Lubbock, TX, also had a 9 percent increase in revenue, generating $10.7 million in 2013, placing it at No. 69 on the Top 100 Clubs list. President Michael Nelson says the primary reason for the revenue increase was because its newest family club was in full operation in 2013. The previous year, about 70 percent of that club was open, with many profit centers still idle, Nelson says.
Increased memberships and fees also played a role in increased revenue for club companies in 2013. The Houstonian Club, Houston, is No. 27 on the Top 100 Clubs list with a reported $48.3 million in 2013 revenue, a 9 percent increase. The company had an additional 116 memberships from January to July last year, putting the membership base at 6,035. An initiation fee increase of $1,000 for both associate and resident levels of membership went into effect last May, according to the company.
“From a competitive standpoint, The Houstonian Club continues to set the standards in all things fitness related,” says Mark Stevens, regional director of The Houstonian. “In the areas of aquatics, group exercise, fitness programs, Pilates and yoga, The Houstonian Club is unrivaled. The club is successful in many areas, none of which would be possible without the best health club staff in America.”
Click here for the entire Top 100 Health Clubs of 2014 list. For a photo gallery of the Top 100 Clubs, click here.
Missing Clubs
The following clubs and franchisors are large enough to be included on the Top 100 Clubs list, but their owners either did not complete a Top 100 Clubs form or have chosen not to turn in a form in years past, and we were not able to find another way to estimate their revenue.
- The Alaska Clubs, Anchorage, AK
- Brick Bodies, Cockeysville, MD
- California Family Fitness, Orangevale, CA
- Chelsea Piers, New York
- Club One, San Francisco (the company transferred ownership to Active Sports Clubs)
- Fitness 19, Maple Valley, WA
- Fitness USA, West Bloomfield, MI
- In-Shape Health Clubs, Stockton, CA
- MVP Sports Clubs, Orlando, FL
- New York Health and Racquet Club, New York, NY
- PRO Sports Club, Bellevue, WA
- Retro Fitness, Colts Neck, NJ
- Titan Fitness Holdings, McLean, VA
- World Gym International, Los Angeles
- WOW! Work Out World, Wall, NJ
Special Thanks
Thank you to Rick Caro, president of Management Vision, New York, for reviewing the information provided by the club companies and helping with the analysis.
Top 100 Health Clubs Report
To purchase a copy of Club Industry’s Top 100 Health Clubs Report 2009-2013, go to www.clubindustry.com/club-industrys-top-100-health-clubs-report-2009-2013. A new five-year report that includes this year’s report will be available early this fall.
The Top 100 image that accompanies this article is from Thinkstock.
Sidebar: 2013 Club Industry Overview
Rick Caro, president of Management Vision, New York, reviewed the Club Industry Top 100 Clubs list and offers his perspective on both the list and the health club industry.
2013 was a stronger year for the club industry overall, with all signs pointing to a significantly positive 2014 year ahead. It was a year of increase in the number of overall fitness facilities. 2013 saw several transactions in a variety of segments. For years, the financial experts predicted significant consolidation with the large club companies acquiring smaller or regional groups. That was not the case in 2013. Those potential acquirers chose to create their own new builds instead.
Some new private equity firms did enter the club industry in 2013, with an even greater likelihood in 2014. The two major growth stories centered around the substantial increase in franchised facilities in a wide variety of segments (e.g. high-volume/low-price, barre class, small group training, boxing/kickboxing, 24/7, all-access, etc.) and the major thrust into new studios (often of a single activity). The ease of entry and ability to secure minimal capital made this direction possible. The other story was the availability of very affordable debt to all segments.
Some of the large companies continued with new builds, including LA Fitness, Equinox (and their Blink and SoulCycle divisions), 24 Hour Fitness, XSport and Gold’s Gym. Typically, regional club companies were growing at faster rates than previously in their own backyards. Others were undergoing major renovations, as club capital expenditures were returning to previous levels.
The challenge is for the independents in the “middle” to determine their core strengths and focus on them, amass necessary capital and re-examine their products, services, systems, etc., to be able to compete with the new and existing competitive pressures.
