Planet Fitness Expansion Includes NWA
by February 1, 2012 11:52 am 707 views
Planet Fitness, a fast-growing, national fitness center chain based in New Hampshire, will open its first Arkansas location Saturday in Rogers.
The 25,000-SF store inside Frisco Station Mall plans a soft opening at 8 a.m., with a large-scale grand opening and ribbon cutting set for Monday at 4 p.m.
The gym will occupy the space previously leased to Goody’s. Operating hours are from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the weekend.
Brandon Sebald and Buck Ortega, former football teammates at the University of Miami, are the local franchise owners.
Sebald also owns a franchise in Miami. He said the Rogers location will be the first of five Planet Fitness franchises planned for Benton and Washington counties over the next two years.
“We’re going through the process of working through a couple of other lease agreements right now,” he said. “The next one will spin out probably this summer.”
Planet Fitness, a privately held company founded in 1992, recently opened its 500th location and has plans to continue its aggressive expansion by opening 100 additional locations throughout the country by the end of the year.
Basic membership fees in many of the company’s locations run $10 per month and, unlike many fitness centers, don’t require a contract for a regular membership.
“There is no gym around that can match our environment coupled with our clean facilities, friendly staff and low membership cost of only $10 a month,” Sebald said.
The chief marketing aspect of Planet Fitness is its “Judgment Free Zone” that doesn’t allow any primal screaming or dropping weights to the floor.
The idea is to make the main clientele — first-time and occasional fitness center users — feel more comfortable while working out.
The gym’s policies gained national attention in 2006 when police escorted a male bodybuilder from New York out of a Planet Fitness location for grunting.
“The area doesn’t have many options for the type of health club we are,” Sebald said. “It’s not for muscle-heads. It’s geared toward general fitness and first-time users and I can’t stress that enough. The model works.”
Hobby Lobby is the mall’s anchor tenant. Bath & Body Works, Merle Norman, GNC and Payless Shoe Source are a few other existing tenants in the 242,000-SF, single-story building.
Planet Fitness is leasing the space from J. Herzog and Sons Inc., a full-service real estate company headquartered in Denver and owner of the mall.
Alan W. Cole, principal with Colliers International, is the exclusive representative for Planet Fitness in Arkansas and brokered the lease agreement. T.J. Lefler of Sage Partners represented J. Herzog and Sons.