Planet Fitness Expands in Puerto Rico

Planet Fitness, the franchise known for its intolerance of “lunk heads,” has recently opened a “Judgment Free Zone®” in Bayamon Oeste, Puerto Rico. This is the third Planet Fitness to open in Puerto Rico, with two other locations residing in Carolina and San Juan.

The Bayamon Oeste location boasts 18,000 square feet filled with equipment from manufactures such as Life Fitness and Cybex, and includes a PF Black™ Card zone for Black Card members only. For $19.99 a month, the PF Black™ Card membership includes access to nearly all 700 clubs in Planet Fitness’ chain, as well as unlimited tanning, use of massage chairs, 50 percent off all cooler drinks and more.

According to Rick Scaccia, the Puerto Rico franchise owner for Planet Fitness, Puerto Rico makes sense as an area for Planet Fitness to expand.

“Puerto Rico residents live a much more relaxed lifestyle, but were missing an opportunity to be involved with high-quality, low-cost health clubs,” said Scaccia. “Now that they have a Planet Fitness available to them, it’s a complement to their lifestyle.”

However, expanding to Puerto Rico wasn’t without its challenges. Scaccia explained that finding good real estate is an existing issue.

“Puerto Rico has a very competitive market for retail space,” he said. “There’s a lot of competition for parking, so it’s hard to find what we need.”

Despite these challenges, Scaccia explained he plans on opening additional Planet Fitness clubs in Puerto Rico in the future: “We have every intention to be there for quite a long time and develop more clubs in the market,” he said.

By Rachel Zabonick