FITNESS WITH FLEX

Did you know 80 per cent of Aussies don’t use a gym? And that’s why two big names in fitness are targeting this market with their brand new concepts.

The latest offerings are focusing on wellness, aiming to attract the reluctant gym goer. Fernwood Fitness is unveiling Fernwood Fusion, and former Fitness First boss Tony De Leede is launching Club W.

CLUB W

This wellness concept has a clear goal: to attract the 80 per cent of Aussies who don’t go to the gym, with senior citizens, particularly women, the target market for membership.

Tony De Leede tells Inside Franchise Business, “The people we will attract have never been to a class and will embrace this; all of our instructors are over 40s, it will be a place to meet friends. This is wellness for everybody, every day.”

The Club W idea has been trialled as a multi-activity wellness centre in Caringbah, in Sydney.

Club W combines three concepts in the one venue: Wellness Lounge, Wellness Collective and Wellness Coworking.

The fitness element is focused on two major activity streams, Move 123 and Mind 123. The bite-sized classes are designed to appeal to reluctant exercisers who are daunted by the idea of a long gym session.

The 123 stands for 10, 20 and 30 minute sessions and activities include dance, cardio, yoga, Pilates, breathing, meditation, stretching and chi.

“It’s all about small bites,” says Tony. “We feel for a comfortable environment the 50+ age group is the target, with movement and activity delivered in immersive rooms on screens – a yin and yang room (for breathing, meditation, stretching and chi) and a cardio space, with all sessions pre-recorded.”

Digital content can also be accessed by members in their own time, and Tony suggests Club W could stream live classes in the future.

The introduction of quiet rooms for one or two people is partially driven by Covid, he adds.

“You can pick your content, pick your time, pick your LED lights, pick your scent (we have a symphony of scents) and curate your own personal private workout. It’s a new element to what we’re doing.”

The concept also includes wellness pods featuring equipment such as massage recovery chairs, infrared meditation and salt bricks.

Tony compares it to pricier hands-on spa and wellness treatments.

“Club W is tech-enhanced wellness, touchless treatments which provide a different experience, and it’s one third of the price,” he says.

Suburban co-working is already becoming the norm, he points out, and the wellness co-working space seats about 35 people at individual desks; there are two-people offices, and hot or flexi desks – all available on a co-working wellness membership.

Tony is hoping to reassign the all-Aussie idea of a smoko with what he calls a wello – a wellness break in the wellness lounge, which includes a cafe.

“The concept of a break is more relevant than ever,” he says.

The franchise model suits sites of about 500 square metres and elements can be bolted on to the basic model in larger sites.

Franchisees can expect to invest at least $400,000 in a Club W business.

WHO IS TONY DE LEEDE?

Tony has plenty of fitness and wellness business experience. In addition to leading Fitness First Australia for eight years from 2000, he launched Gwinganna, the luxury lifestyle retreat near the Gold Coast, a surf retreat, yoga and wellness resort Hotel Komune, the Fit n Fast gyms and the YogaBar.

FERNWOOD FUSION

The concept continues the women-only focus of its iconic Aussie gym chain parent but takes a more boutique approach.

Fusion offers a wellness program of classes in yoga, mat Pilates, reformer Pilates, meditation, barre and fusion.

Caitlin Jury, general manager of operations and marketing at Fernwood, tells Inside Franchise Business, “There’s always a place for a big box gym and we’ve started to introduce wellness, and 47 out of 74 clubs do Pilates and have some form of wellness. But Fusion is a niche market.”

While there are other gyms taking on wellness concepts they are still targeting a younger market, she says.

“They are showcasing wellness as a high intensity activity, attracting another gym goer. We want to attract peoplewho would never set foot in the big box gym.”

Caitlin points to the recuperative benefits of wellness classes, with doctors recommending reformer Pilates to mums returning after childbirth and senior citizens suffering aches and pains.

The new brand is ideal for the vast majority (80 per cent) of Aussie women who are “deconditioned” she says.

In addition to the relaxed and meditative classes there will be some fusion sessions which introduce cardio workouts, ideal for members to step into as their fitness levels progress.

Fusion, as the name suggests, combines the disciplines in a circuit program; this is delivered on a video screen with practitioners on hand to give personal attention.

That personalised, boutique approach is key to the new concept. While Fernwood members would be familiar with a lounge area for members to relax and enjoy a coffee, the look and feel of the new model is a step away from a gym, with a signature aroma and soft music turning the space into a sanctuary.

These clubs will operate with a more intimate ambience and between 150 and 300 members.

The first of 10 units to open by the end of 2022 will open its doors this year in the Victorian suburb of Richmond, with a much smaller footprint than the big box style Fernwood Fitness gyms, at just 200–300 square metres.

But “the sky’s the limit” for long-term expansion, reveals Caitlin.

The appeal for franchisees – apart from the level of support that Fernwood delivers – is the affordability. A typical Fusion investment would be about $200,000; the smaller footprint site is cheaper to maintain, and with a different staffing structure there are fewer labour costs than with a traditional Fernwood Fitness gym.

Fusion franchisees can expect a streamlined model, thanks to the pandemic. The business is embracing the efficiencies introduced during lockdowns, and an online membership model has been developed so franchisees can still get revenue in any future shut down situations.

The Fusion model is open to new franchisees and Fernwood operators alike. There’s room for both, says Caitlin, with sites already spaced out up to 15 kilometres apart, and in many cases a Fusion location can fit into a Fernwood territory.

“We’ve already got existing franchisees wanting a Fusion,” she says.

WHO’S BEHIND FERNWOOD FUSION?

Parent company Fernwood Fitness was founded by Diana Williams in 1989 as a women-only gym. Today the female focus continues and the nearly 70 health and fitness clubs across the country have more than 70,000 members.

THE FUTURE OF WELLNESS?

Club W‘s Tony De Leede predicts a mix of corporate, shopping centre and standalone sites.

“In the corporate world we have already installed a wellness lounge inside Stockland’s headquarters. It has two immersive rooms and five pods, and everyone in the company has access to the digital platform.

“Westfield is looking ahead to what our shopping centre is going to look like in five years.”

Lifestyle, experience and wellness precincts are the future, he suggests.

“I have a vision of a 4000-metre huge Club W incorporating stretching, nail salon, hair salon and a fitness component.”