Planet Fitness Opening results in Anytime Fitness closing!

Planet Fitness Opening results in Anytime Fitness closing! Planet Fitness Opening results in Anytime Fitness closing! 

Dennis and Lillian Albert spent Thursday mopping and vacuuming the Anytime Fitness gym they owned and operated at Applewood Shopping Center.

The high-end exercise equipment that until Monday had dominated the floor plan was gone; voices echoed in the empty space. It was time to turn off the lights and turn in the keys.

A letter posted on the storefront addressed to valued friends and Anytime Fitness members was succinct:

“We regret to inform you the Anytime Fitness of Anderson will close effective Monday, December 17, 2018,” the letter said.

“Lil and I want to thank all of our loyal members for embarking on the journey towards improved health and wellness with Anytime Fitness,” it said.

The letter added: “We are happy to have met all of you and not only to have you as members, but to call you friends. We will miss you all.” It provided members with directions about how to transfer their membership to another location, or cancel.

The decision to close after 11 years in business at 1832 Applewood Drive probably seemed abrupt; however, the couple has been seeking a buyer for the business for two years.

At its peak, the gym had more than 600 members, Dennis said.

Then, Planet Fitness opened a new Anderson location less than a mile north on Scatterfield Road offering a monthly membership fee of $10 and no long-term commitment.

There are 4,000 Anytime Fitness clubs worldwide, and 100 in Indiana, according to Minnesota-based Self-Esteem Brands, which founded the company in the early 2000s.

Dennis said the locations that now seem to do best are in smaller cities and towns such as New Castle, Peru, and Logansport.

“The smaller clubs seem to do better because they’re not attracting the bigger clubs such as, well, the low-priced ones,” like Planet Fitness, Dennis said.

“When you’ve joined one you can go to all the Anytime Fitnesses. That’s what makes us kind of unique because we have 4,000 clubs. We’re international,” he added. “You could actually go around the world and use the same key fob that opens the door here. There’s no club that’s even close to that.”

However, the cost of belonging to Anytime Fitness is $36 per month as opposed to $10 per month.

What people aren’t seeing in that equation, Dennis said, is the free personal training, customer service and helping club members achieve tangible improvements in personal fitness.

After the newness of Planet Fitness wore off, he said, customers began to return, but not at the same pace as when they left.

With a mandatory renovation every five years (the last one cost about $49,000), the couple couldn’t stay in business and make money.

In October, Dennis was contacted by investors from Hartford City who had plans to open a new 6,000-square-foot Anytime Fitness.

They purchased all of his equipment and carted it away in three trucks.

“They transported this whole club off to Hartford City, Dennis said. “They’re putting a club where there’s nobody. They’re going to make it because it’s too small to attract a Planet (Fitness).”