Planet Fitness plans to double its expansion plan for area

 

From Illinois Business Journal news services

ST. LOUIS — Planet Fitness Midwest franchise group, which recently opened a new location in Edwardsville, has announced plans to double its original expansion plan for the St. Louis area to 22 clubs.

Planet Fitness touts itself as an innovative health club franchise known for its “Judgement Free Zone” and memberships for only $10 a month.

In April 2014, the group opened its first St. Louis location in Overland, Mo., with original plans to open an additional 11 new clubs in the metro area. Today, the plan has increased – both geographically and in total units.

There are currently five Planet Fitness clubs operating in the St. Louis area with plans to open an additional 17 locations. Planet Fitness Midwest has plans to acquire Xist Fitness (locations in Concord, Arnold and Shrewsbury, Mo.), growing the brand faster than anticipated. Planet Fitness and Xist Fitness will be cross honoring each other’s memberships.

This expansion represents a significant $100,000,000 investment and approximately 300 new jobs. Many of the planned clubs are “ground up” projects, which creates hundreds of construction jobs as well.

Last year, Wentzville, Mid Rivers and Ferguson locations opened. At the beginning of this year, the Midwest Flagship location opened in Edwardsville. This spring, the 20,000-square-foot Shrewsbury Club will open at 7521 Watson Road.

About Planet Fitness

Founded in 1992 in Dover, N.H., Planet Fitness is one of the largest and fastest-growing franchisors and operators of fitness centers in the United States by number of members and locations. It has more than 1,000 locations in 47 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Canada.