Mike Feeney is the executive vice president of New Evolution Ventures (NEV), an investment firm specializing in the acquisition, development and operations management of both domestic and international fitness businesses. Here, Feeney chats with Club Solutions Magazine editor-in-chief Rachel Zabonick-Chonko on monetizing recovery trends, popular modalities and offerings, and more.
Below is a partial transcript, edited for clarity:
Rachel Zabonick-Chonko: You were a panelist at the Club Solutions Leadership Retreat on recovery. I really got the feeling you feel recovery is kind of a non-negotiable these days for gyms, right? Something you need to offer?
Mike Feeney: Well, yeah, that’s a loaded question. I do believe there should be some form of relaxed, recovery, wellness component. But yes, a non-negotiable if you’re going to do a club. You should have it.
RZ: Why do you feel that way?
MF: I think a lot of us that started in the industry, we’re all getting older now. So we’re looking for that recovery component. We’ve done a lot of research in finding out how can we extend our wellness and how can we feel better every day. Then, how can we bring that into the club setting? There’s a number of us who have been doing this a long time. Over the last 30-plus years I’ve been doing this, the industry’s changed dramatically. I think the wellness side, or recovery, is that new wave that’s coming into the gyms that’s very public.
RZ: Can you share some examples of what specific recovery modalities or offerings you’re including in some of the new build outs or remodels you’re working on?
MF: So I think HydroMassage is a great component. It’s a great self service product. So we offer HydroMassage and cryo lounges, because I believe in hot and cold therapy, and I think that every recovery space needs to have a cold element in it, even if it’s an entry level to cold therapy, so that people get that balance. We do a lot of compression, a lot of massage. So NormaTec compression boots, percussion guns from HyperIce. And then as you get into the higher end units, you’re going to find more full red light therapy, full cryotherapy. We’re doing more infrared saunas now in the recovery area versus doing dry saunas in the locker rooms.
RZ: When it comes to monetizing recovery, any basic advice or guidelines operators should be considering when they think about that?
MF: I think you have to worry about how do you access it? How do you control it? It’s very tough for us in the club setting to control different offerings that people are paying for and not paying for. I think groups like Chuze Fitness do a great job of access to their different areas. I think more and more people are doing that because it’s controllable, it’s manageable. We’ve never been really good in the club business at making sure people are paying for all the things they’re actually using, when you have this a la cart setup. So I would only say don’t have too many offerings, it makes it kind of clunky, a little bit tougher to control. But you definitely have to think about monetizing recovery because you’re going to spend a lot of money in the build out components. It’s not cheap.
Watch the video to hear the full Q&A with Feeney on recovery trends.
