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The Inc. 5,000 list ranks companies according to revenue growth in thefour previous years. From 2004 to 2007, Planet Fitness's revenues leaped from$8.4 million to $48.5 million - an increase of 472 percent, good for the 732ndspot on the magazine's list.
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With 230 clubs in 29 states and more than 1.1 million members, PlanetFitness is the country's premier low-cost/high-value gym operator. As recentlyas 2003, the company consisted of a handful of clubs in its home state of NewHampshire. But when Planet Fitness began franchising in 2003, it triggered arapid national expansion.
The company's business model is vastly different than that of other healthclubs. Memberships prices are extremely low - $10-$19.99 a month. In addition,Planet Fitness clubs have no salespeople and no bodybuilders. They don't offerchildcare or group-exercise classes, and there are no pools and spas - juststylish facilities outfitted with a huge selection of top-notch cardio andstrength machines. The company's core customers tend to be first-time andoccasional gym users drawn to our Judgment Free Zone(R) philosophy, whichallows members to lose weight and get fit without the intimidating atmospherecommon in so many gyms.
The Planet Fitness model began to take shape in 1992, when company founderMike Grondahl acquired a financially struggling gym in Dover, N.H., anddramatically reduced prices to try to compete against better-financed andbetter-known brands. Membership rolls immediately swelled, and Grondahl andhis two partners - his brother, Marc, and Chris Rondeau - spent several yearsrefining the Planet Fitness business model. Today a number of Planet Fitnessclubs have as many as 10,000 members, and no other health club operatorcompetes in the same niche or offers a comparable value.
SOURCE Planet Fitness
