This month, Geoff Dyer, the founder of Lifestyle Family Fitness and AussieFit, announced a move to Crunch.
Dyer sold his nine Lifestyle Family Fitness clubs to LA Fitness in 2012. On December 1, 2015, he closed the deal to sell his two AussieFit clubs to Crunch Franchise’s Ohio developer.
Dyer is now a partner in Crunch West Florida and Atlanta. This partnership includes Vince Julien, Dyer’s former competitor. The group currently has six clubs open and three in development.
Here, Dyer provides additional insight into this new venture.
CS: What drew you to Crunch?
GD: The two dynamics going on in the fitness industry today are the rapid growth of the boutique fitness sector and the enormous growth taking place with the high-value, low-price model. The forerunner in that is obviously Planet Fitness, and you have Youfit in the space as well.
[Vince Julien], which I’ve competed with over the past 30 years, had already invested in the Crunch model. He liked Crunch, particularly because it really targets the active exerciser, while Planet specifically targets the overweight and inactive individual.
We both liked Crunch as a model because it targets the active exerciser. When you can provide a great value at a lower price point, obviously you have the ability to attract people who belong to other gyms, people that have been on the fence about joining a club, and we think that represents a big part of the market.
CS: For what other reasons was Crunch appealing to you?
GD: Crunch also was appealing to us because it enabled us to have a bigger footprint. We like clubs that are in that 25,000-square-foot range, and Crunch was willing to let us work with a larger model. We think having a bigger space allocation for a club with a lot of members leads to better retention rates, which ultimately make or break an organization.
Crunch has a tremendous focus on functional training and small group training, and we like that. We think personal and small group training represent a huge part of the industry that we want to be able to take advantage of, and Planet Fitness hasn’t embraced personal training in the past. We like the fact that we can make that a big part of our focus at Crunch.
So big value, low price, and there’s no selling process involved. There’s a savings of dollars and a better customer perception when you eliminate the sales process, and of course, the fact that we can have a full-service fitness facility that includes kids club, functional training and personal training, made it a very appealing model to us.
CS: Can you provide more background into your relationship with Vince Julien?
GD: Vince and I grew up in the health club industry for the last 30 years. He operated a company called Shapes Family Fitness, which was for women only. We had always had a very respectful relationship, and when you compete with someone, you get to know how they operate, how they treat their employees, how they treat their members, and we built a mutual respect for one another.
When my non-compete [with LA Fitness] ran out in Florida and I was considering coming back into the fitness business in Florida, he suggested we grow the business together and use the Crunch model. As I learned more about the Crunch model, it appeared to be the right direction for me as well. Subsequently my non-compete ran out, I sold the two [AussieFit] clubs in Columbus, Ohio, and now we’re actively growing Crunch. We have the rights to the Tampa Bay area, the West Coast of Florida, as well as Orlando, and we purchased the rights to Atlanta in March of this year.
CS: It’s interesting to have two competitors go into business together.
GD: Forever I’ve always told my staff that one of the best things you can do as a club operator is to know your competitors, because at the end of the day, treating your competitor with respect only improves the value of the business in the eyes of the consumer. It’s remarkable that my competitor and I are now in business together, it’s a great story.
CS: What are you most excited about concerning this venture?
GD: Well, I think we have a great business model, so I’m very excited about building a company again. There’s nothing more exciting in this business than creating opportunities for employees to grow and develop. It’s exciting to have a big push on the marketing side. As you grow, you create a lot of energy and excitement, and so, I’m very excited about the opportunity to build a great company again. We did it once with Lifestyle Family Fitness and we fully anticipate doing it again with Crunch.
CS: What’s your vision for the future?
GD: Right now we have our sights set on 50 clubs. We think we can accomplish that over the next 5 years, so that’s our goal, to grow to a 50-plus club organization. That’s a lot of hard work, but we’re certainly ready for it.
