Over a year after its partnership with Trilantic North America, Taymax Group Holdings LLC has continued its rapid rate of growth, specifically in the Southeast. Earlier in September, Taymax announced its acquisition of Southfit, a Planet Fitness franchisee group that operates 14 clubs in Jacksonville, Florida, and southeastern Georgia.
One of Planet Fitness’ largest franchisees, Taymax now operates over 90 locations across the U.S. and Canada following its latest acquisition.
“We’re super excited about the direction we’re going,” said Tim Kelleher, the CEO and co-founder of Taymax. “We’re now in Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania and California, as well as the western Toronto and Ottawa markets.”
The major contributor to Taymax’s rapid growth rate its understanding of how to translate the same experience to multiple locations organically. Prior to the backing of Trilantic, Kelleher and his team had to take a more hands-on approach to opening individual locations.
“Up until a year ago, we had our hands on every club, so we’ve learned along the way what to do right and what could go wrong,” said Kelleher. “Now, with our scale, process system and ability to grow, we can do more merger and acquisitions and acquire more clubs. Trilantic is really excited to go fast and open multiple clubs, and really increase the brand awareness in Jacksonville.”
Another key to success for Taymax has been stressing the importance of the customer experience, in clubs opened organically and through acquisitions. “We truly are the ‘Judgment Free Zone,’ and we’re going to do everything in our power to give a good customer experience,” said Kelleher. “We’re going to put our name out there in the community, and make it a place where people want to go.”
And even though there are 14 new clubs to bring up to speed, Kelleher is confident the transition to Taymax ownership after the acquisition will be smooth. For members of these clubs, that means little to no major operational changes.
“I have to give credit where credit is due — the previous group did a great job with keeping these clubs up, and making sure they did everything necessary for the needs and message of the franchise,” shared Kelleher.
Moving forward, Taymax has no plans of slowing down. After earning the award three times in the past four years, Kelleher and his team will be shooting for more “Developer of the Year” awards at future Planet Fitness Conventions.
However, for the time being, the primary focus for Taymax is keeping up its usual high standards for the Planet Fitness brand. “We believe Planet Fitness works anywhere,” said Kelleher. “We like the market, we have 14 units open, and we think there’s a great opportunity for growth moving forward.”
