Anytime Fitness flexes muscles in PH

Global brand Anytime Fitness has opened its 50th club in the Philippines in Glorietta 5, Makati.—PHOTOS BY JAM STA. ROSA

Fifty today, and, soon, hopefully, 400 branches in the Philippines.

If 24-hour gym Anytime Fitness maintains its aggressive growth, the franchise could very well hit such an ambitious number in the next few years, said Anytime Fitness Asia master franchisee and CEO Maurice Levine at the opening of the newest branch in Glorietta 5, Makati City.

“If we want to have 400 [branches], we need to reach out to more provinces. That’s our next blueprint,” said Levine. “I hope to have the type of rise that we’ve had in the last three years, wherein we’ve had 50 gyms. If we can continue on that aggregated growth rate, then you can do the math.”

With a strong year-on-year growth of almost 250 percent, Anytime Fitness, in less than three years, has since branched from Metro Manila to Laguna, Pampanga, Baguio, Cavite, Cebu and Davao. A dozen more gyms are in the pipeline for 2017, said Levine. Each gym has an average of around 1,000 members.

Globally, Anytime Fitness is present in 25 countries, with over two and a half million members in 3,000 gyms.

Maurice Levine

The secret to its fast success, aside from a business model which places gyms in communities and therefore closer to people, allowing them to work out, well, anytime they want, lies in its customer service, says the company.

“Having great, brand new equipment that the best money can buy is not the answer. Having beautifully connected 24-hour gyms is not the answer. Having clean bathrooms is not the answer. The answer is—notwithstanding all of these, because we have them—is you have to care,” said Levine. “You have to genuinely understand what someone is coming to the gym for, what they want to achieve. We have to offer tailored services, including personal trainers, coaches, to help people realize those aims. Naturally, you have to have the best equipment, but you have to care more.”

On the side of its franchisees, Levine said the company partners with people who need not have any previous experience in running gyms, making an example of multi-branch owner Billie Pech who was also at the launch of the 50th gym.

Billie Pech

“We had people looking at the gym industry who perhaps had no experience operating gyms. They just said, you know what, I buy into the value of having people get well, I want to invest in a gym, and I want to change lives. And we created a vehicle for them to do that,” Levine said.

“When we first came into the business, we opened in Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna, which wasn’t the typical model, which is opening in a metro area. When we opened, we had a lot of people coming up to us, shaking our hands, saying, thank you for bringing this into our community,” said Pech, who now runs five Anytime Fitness gyms.

Levine added that the group also empowers franchisees by sticking to their four pillars: people, purpose, profit, and play.

“Our people—from the members to the staff—are at the core of our business. Their goal of a healthier place is our shared goal. There is no pressure to lift heavy weights or look like a model,” he said. “Our facilities inspire people to enter, but it’s our people, culture and environment that make them stay.”

Global brand Anytime Fitness has opened its 50th club in the Philippines in Glorietta 5, Makati.