Snap Fitness, the 24/7 fitness franchise founded by Peter Taunton in 2003, has recently acquired STEELE Fitness, a high-end personal training company, in order to bolster its personal training offerings. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
STEELE Fitness boasts five locations in the greater Minneapolis area, in downtown Minneapolis, Wayzata Bay, Excelsior, St. Paul and Edina. Founded by Steele Smiley seven years ago, it began as a home-visit training business. Smiley will join Snap Fitness as the executive director of STEELE Fitness Advanced Training, and oversee the integration of his training concept into Snap Fitness locations.
Snap Fitness will begin incorporating the STEELE Fitness program into its six corporately-owned locations, as well as other franchise-owned locations in the Twin Cities area, this month. The company will begin rolling out the STEELE Fitness program into other clubs nationally and internationally in 2014.
“We’re very excited about the opportunity that this acquisition presents, and I see this as a natural fit for Snap Fitness,” Taunton told Club Solutions. “The STEELE Fitness system isn’t just about personal training; it’s about creating a plan to help people achieve results, which aligns perfectly with what we offer at our clubs. By adding this proven, successful personal training system to our existing model, we’re on our way to creating the largest and best personal training program in the industry.”
For the fifth consecutive year, Snap Fitness was recently ranked on the annual Inc. 500|5000 list, which presents an exclusive ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. With 84 percent sales growth over three years, Snap Fitness moved up 1,205 spots on the list to #3,608, from its 2012 ranking of #4,813.
By Rachel Zabonick
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
