June 2024 Club of the Month, presented by ABC Fitness:
Crunch Fitness Canada, Cambridge, Ontario, est. 2017
The first Crunch Fitness in Canada was established in 2017 when Wes Hodgson, the CEO of Crunch Canada, secured the rights to bring the brand to the country. He converted 13 clubs to align with the Crunch Fitness brand, officially expanding the brand’s reach to Canada.
Below, Hodgson details how Crunch Fitness Canada leans into being a well-known brand, how it’s serving a unique membership base and how it’s setting itself up for growth.
What is the mission of Crunch Fitness Canada?
Our mission is to service and strengthen our communities one person at a time.
How would you describe the culture at your gyms?
Crunch is a gym that believes in making serious exercise fun by fusing fitness and entertainment and pioneering a “no limits” philosophy in Canada.
We serve a fitness community for all kinds of people with all types of goals, exercising in different ways and all working out at the same place together. Our foundation relies on our three Cs: Community, connection and culture. Always.
Today, we’re renowned for heavy free weights and creating one-of-a-kind group fitness classes, including our exclusive HIITZone workouts.
How do you use ABC Fitness and ABC Ignite to engage members?
We utilize ABC Fitness’ ABC Ignite as an essential tool and resource to elevate engagement with our existing clients and members. Its comprehensive management solutions also help us optimize our operations to serve potential clients and existing members efficiently.
Plus, the team’s ability to work with us and align with our partners through its open APIs elevated the Crunch experience for our members.
Lastly, ABC Ignite is an industry leader in optimizing billing and maximizing returns which has allowed us to recuperate added revenue and keep more members.
How has ABC Fitness and ABC Ignite helped your business?
ABC Ignite is integral to our daily club operations and has contributed to our success within a competitive Canadian market. It’s helped us streamline facility management and enhance member experiences.
By harnessing ABC Ignite’s features and capabilities, we continually elevate our member satisfaction and retention while enhancing our business’ overall success and bottom line.
What changes have you seen in your membership over the last year?
ABC Fitness recently released its Q1 Wellness Watch report, indicating gym check-ins significantly increased in Q1 of this year.
We’re happy to report we’ve also seen this welcomed trend in Canada — especially post-COVID-19. It includes a good blend of new gym visitors and our regular members.
Additionally, we continue to see the age demographic of our clubs changing. The young, strong and social crowd is now an essential driving force. We’re their in-person social space and their new hangout spot.
What trend are you seeing in the fitness industry that other operators should keep on their radar in 2024?
Crunch Fitness Canada sees two main trends that we’re honing in on:
- The expansion of our ancillary and retail services. For example, our Relax & Recover area has generated more revenue from our existing membership base.
- Again, our target audience consists of 18 to 35-year-olds with a very high presence on social media, especially TikTok. Our innovative marketing campaigns speak their language to drive them to the club for healthy lifelong habits and community. Mental wellness and physical fitness are not just fads. Gen Z and millennials don’t join a gym only in January. This demographic is well-educated, knows what they want and need, and will sign up at any time of the year. Our ads, billboards and social media posts in Canada reflect this new messaging, encouraging them to go to the gym and join our community now. We’re the first gym to own this and stamp our crunchy strength on it.
Created in partnership with ABC Fitness. Visit abcfitness.com for more information on how they can help your fitness business.
