Planet Fitness expands to 17 clubs in Australia

The recent opening of two clubs in Queensland in two days has seen Planet Fitness expand its Australian portfolio to 17 clubs.

The chain’s opening of its second club in Townsville in Mundingburra and another club north of Brisbane in Caboolture follows recent openings in West Tamworth and Corio Village in Geelong.

In Townsville, where Planet Fitness Thuringowa has almost 6000 members, the new Mundingburra club occupies the site of a former Coles supermarket.

Writing on social media, Planet Fitness Club Operations Manager, Joanna Orson explained “in business we strive to build strong relationships that deliver results and are enjoyable.

“A special shout out and thankyou to Jeremy Allomes, PDC construction and his team for delivering excellence with their third Planet Fitness build in Caboolture (and) Haran Ainkharan and his team at Johnson Health Tech. Co. Ltd. for the team work followed by the delivery and install of our Matrix equipment at both clubs.

“We are on our mission to deliver affordable fitness for all and introduce many first time gym users to the health benefits of fitness, community connection, recovery and rejuvenation.”

Global Chief Executive steps down
Planet Fitness Australia’s USA-based parent company has announced that Chris Rondeau, its Chief Executive since 2013, has stepped down for his role, being replaced by Board member Craig Benson, will take over the position on an interim basis as the company searches for a new permanent Chief Executive.

The change has been reported to be based on dissatisfaction at shareholder value.

While, on a financial level, Planet Fitness has been reporting consistently strong earnings, there is apparent dissatisfaction that this has not translated to shareholder value.

Most recently, Planet Fitness posted strong results for the second quarter of2023, with revenues up US$62.5 million on 2022 (27.6%) to US$286.5 million. The business also reported that it ended its second quarter with a total of 18.4 million members.

Speaking after the release of the results but prior to his stepping down from the Chief Executive role,  Rondeau stated “all generational groups have surpassed their pre-pandemic penetration levels and more of our members are working out more frequently. In addition, previous members are rejoining at a faster rate than they did pre-pandemic, and they're staying longer.”

Image credit: Planet Fitness.