Planet Fitness is proving to be a profitable replacement tenant for landlords with vacant anchor spaces.
The typical Planet Fitness facility occupies about 20,000 square feet
The gym concept opened 44 facilities in the second quarter, boosting its total to 1,608 units. Planet Fitness same-store sales, meanwhile, rose by 10.2 percent, atop a 9 percent gain a year ago.
"Our growing membership base exceeded 12.1 million at the end of the quarter, up from over 10.4 million a year ago," said CEO Chris Rondeau on a conference call with investors. "Consumers' passion for what we offer in addition to our well-capitalized franchisees continues to fuel growth in both new and existing markets."
In June the company hired a chief development officer, Ray Miolla, who brings some 20 years of real estate development experience in domestic and international franchising from such global brands as Burger King, Gap Inc. and Jamba Juice. "Ray will work to build upon our current momentum, as brick-and-mortar retail continues to be under pressure from online businesses and [as] landlords are increasingly looking to Planet Fitness to drive traffic in their centers," Rondeau said.
Many of the new Planet Fitness gymnasiums will open at shopping centers, CFO Dorvin Lively told The Wall Street Journal. “It seems [that] as other retailers close down, it opens up perfect locations for us.”
By Brannon Boswell
Executive Editor, Commerce + Communities Today
