Planet Fitness, the value-oriented gym chain, is expanding their offerings to include Turf and Olympic Lifting Platforms (bumper plates).
We're tracking just 8 locations with these amenities, but found another out in Texas. Here's the (current) list of Planet locations with turf:
Nope, never did until now. With the popularity of strength and functional training, this is a sign—a test actually—of their members' usage and desire for heavier weights and functional training.
Planet is testing an upmarket product here to better compete and expand their offerings. With over 2500 locations in the USA, the purple and yellow fitness chain already has an enormous advantage with a nationwide footprint. Bringing turf or platforms to just 10% (50 gyms) of their locations could draw thousands of potential new-gym-goers to their doors.
This is massive news for the gym industry—and something that HVLP (High-Value-Low-Price) gym chains such as Crunch, VASA, Chuze and others need to be aware of.
We talked about the changing desires of Gen-Z, and their penchant for amenities such as turf and heavy weights. Planet is fully aware, and doing their best to offer an appealing product to an utterly massive generational cohort. Locking in the younger generation to their ecosystem at a young age makes sense, stealing away 18-25 year olds from increased competition.
Good question. Olympic platform users often have users doing squats or deadlifts with heavy weights. Yep, you may hear some lunks from this area, but TBD how Planet will address (or may not at all).
In an effort to be a welcoming, non-intimidating environment, adding heavier weights like Olympic Platforms flies in the face of their ethos a bit—but we're sure Planet has loads of data on which locations these amenities fit best in.
It already has. Planet Fitness' famous $10/monthly membership has already been upped to $15/monthly at every location. That 50% boost in revenue is wise for the company amid nationwide inflation... but for their members, seeing that dollar increase should come with a corresponding amenity bump—something that turf would fill.
We're actively looking for more information on these changes at Planet, and we'll be sure to update this as it develops!
