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Eclipse Fitness opened its latest Planet Fitness^® location in Powder Springs, Georgia, this fall. For the new club, the franchise group held a grand opening event Oct. 27, featuring local health and wellness table vendors, a snow cone truck, catered Chick-Fil-A, and a spinning wheel with free PF^®-branded items for all members.

Additionally, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held. The Boys & Girls Club of Atlanta was at the grand-opening event, and Eclipse Fitness presented them with a donation of $2,500. Eclipse Fitness also plans to donate equipment in the future, so they can set up a workout facility for the kids at the Mableton Boys & Girls Club.

The Powder Springs club is situated in a local shopping center, giving the franchise group 21 clubs in Georgia and Florida. The Powder Springs location features cardio machines and strength equipment, a 30-Minute Express Circuit, flat-screen televisions, fully equipped locker rooms and PF 360. The location has seen huge success, as it already has about 1,761 members.

“We are excited to bring our judgement-free fitness experience to the Powder Springs community,” said Toby Hines, CEO of Eclipse Fitness Holdings. “We offer an affordable membership for a high-quality fitness center and welcome anyone, at any fitness level into our friendly, comfortable and non-intimidating environment. We encourage members to check out our new location and see what our Judgement Free Zone^® is all about.”

Carolina Fitness maintains a spirit of giving back. For the past three years, the franchise has stationed a food donation bin in each of the clubs’ lobbies 24/7 for First Fruit Ministries, an outreach center that helps the homeless and houses women who suffered from domestic violence, substance abuse and homelessness.

Every two weeks, Reid Wolfe, regional manager for the Choquette family’s group, loads his car with the donated food and drops it off at the First Fruit Ministries’ food pantry, which is hosted twice a week. The organization highly appreciates the generous work of the franchise group.

“Reid and his team do such an amazing job collecting donations each week for our food pantry. We cannot thank Planet Fitness^® and its members enough for our continued partnership and the truckloads of food each month,” said Alicia Newber with First Fruit Ministries.

The franchise group’s generosity doesn’t stop there. It also hosts another donation drive each month. Carolina Fitness’ staff members choose a different organization to donate to each month, and at the end of the month, they deliver the donations to the organization. Some of the organizations they have chosen to donate to this year have included The Carousel Center, Skywatch Bird Rescue, The Tides, Heidi’s Hope for Homeless Animals, a BGCA donation push and a back-to-school supply drive, in which the donations went to local Title I schools. All the organizations were thankful for Carolina Fitness’ help this year.

Trish Arnold, founder and CEO of Heidi’s Hope for Homeless Animals, said, “We are so grateful for their support and dedication to helping pets in need! Thanks to their generosity, we will be able to continue our mission providing food and supplies to homeless animals in the area.”

Carolina Fitness owns and operates four clubs. All of the clubs were involved in the donation drives, including the three in Wilmington and one in Shallotte, North Carolina.

Baseline Fitness opened its Planet Fitness^® club in Palm Desert, California, this summer. To celebrate the grand opening, the franchise had a grand opening party for members that included PF^® swag, locally made donuts and a live radio remote. The event brought roughly 250 people to celebrate the new location.

The 24,386-square-foot club features a full Black Card Spa^® with HydroMassage, tanning, massage chairs and total body enhancement, as well as a full suite of cardio and strength equipment. Palm Desert is set in the middle of the Palm Springs DMA, and it is the franchise’s fourth club in that market. As of the middle of September, the club had more than 1,500 members.

“We are thrilled to open our 90^th club in Palm Desert, California, and become members of that wonderful community. We look forward to welcoming our new members and getting to know the community,” said Will Delaney, marketing director at Baseline Fitness.

This fall, Baseline Fitness also opened another Planet Fitness club in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, which was its second club in that area. The franchise group plans to open seven more locations by the end of 2023.

Flynn Group, which acquired Alder Partners in late 2023, is passionate about giving back, especially to younger generations. This past summer, the franchise group held a school supply drive at its 28 locations in Georgia and nine locations in Massachusetts. The group knows how expensive school supplies can be, which is why they stepped in to organize the drives. Members and non-members donated a wide range of school supplies, such as bookbags, pens, pencils, notebooks, markers, crayons and folders. 

The school supply drive supported local Boys & Girls Club members. The Georgia clubs supported the Lawrenceville Boys & Girls Club, Joseph B. Whitehead Boys & Girls Club, Jesse Draper Boys & Girls Club, East DeKalb Boys & Girls Club, Chamblee Boys & Girls Club and the A. Worley Brown Boys & Girls Club. The Massachusetts clubs supported the Dorchester Boys & Girls Club, Plymouth Boys & Girls Club and the Salesian Boys & Girls Club of East Boston. The school supply drive in the group’s Georgia locations ran June 29-July 21, while the drive in the group’s Massachusetts locations was July 24-Aug. 11. It is estimated that the drive in Georgia helped over 600 kids, while the Massachusetts drive benefited over 275 kids.

“Many students start the school year without some of the essential supplies they need to succeed. We are very thankful to all those who contributed, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs,” said Alder Partners Founder Stan DeMartinis.