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Excel Fitness continues to excel, especially in Texas! To celebrate the opening of its Seagoville, Texas, club, the group had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Feb. 9 and welcomed members of the Seagoville Chamber of Commerce. At the event, Excel Fitness held a Black Card raffle and handed out tons of PF^® goodies. The Seagoville club features 17,000 square feet.

“This is the second club I’ve had the opportunity to open, and it’s always so exciting to get to know members of the community. We loved having the chamber members here in club to celebrate,” General Manager Leandro Sanchez said.

The franchise group also celebrated the grand opening of its Roanoke, Texas, location. The 22,000-square-foot club officially opened in October 2022. The Roanoke Chamber of Commerce hosted the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the club on Jan. 25. The Roanoke mayor also participated in the ceremony.

“We are pumped to be able to spread our message and strengthen the roots we have in this community,” General Manager of Roanoke Brayan Avalos said.

Excel Fitness has 130 clubs located in Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

EPIC Fitness held a “March Magic” staff contest in March for all club staff. These contests encouraged team members to drive membership upgrades. For every upgrade achieved, the team member entered a contest form with their name, club, the agreement number of the upgrade and the raffle prize they wanted the entry to be submitted toward.

EPIC Fitness Director of Continuous Improvement Jess Mace used a name randomizer to draw winners. They had a variety of different winners, company-wide, from MSRs to GMs. Available prize options included a Traverse City trip; a $100 Muse Medical Spa certificate; a $100 Visa gift card; a helicopter ride over Detroit; Ninja kitchen appliances; signed Pistons’ memorabilia; a Stanley Quencher tumbler; Tigers opening day tickets and tailgating; Woodward Sports Winners Circle; and brunch with CEO Bryan Rief.

The staff contest resulted in big wins for EPIC Fitness. The franchise group found that 32% of its membership upgrades were directly related to the contest. Compared to 2019, the group saw an increase of more than 13% in upgrades. Additionally, the year-over-year increase in upgrades was greater than 22%. It’s safe to say the March Magic contest was a huge success for the franchise.

“March Magic was made possible by the buzz out in the field, the daily updating of the leaderboard sheet to keep results real-time, a diverse array of contest prizes and unique email campaign efforts by marketing, all with some rewards sprinkled in by way of EPIC Rewards and surprise coffee deliveries from corporate staff to top performing clubs and employees. This March was ‘magic’ because everyone was involved, from corporate to MSRs,” said Mace.

Planet Fitness^® strives to be a Judgement Free Zone^®, meaning it is inclusive of everyone – especially those new to fitness. In January, Red Mountain Management Services welcomed a group of students to its Planet Fitness location in Holland, Michigan. The students were given a tour to learn about the brand, as well as how to work out safely. Then, Jake Dalziel, a PF^® trainer, led the students through a workout and taught them about the different equipment Planet Fitness offers.

The students were part of the YAS program, a program that helps transition young adults who are receiving special education services, to be independent. Through the program, the students focus on building skills such as employment, social-emotional, communication and household independence. These students were all a part of OAISD (Ottawa Area Independent School District), and their ages ranged from 18-26. The students appreciated learning about all the benefits of having a Planet Fitness gym membership.

“It was a lot of fun signing up all of the students and getting to know them. Showing them around the gym before their class with Jake, we got to see the students get excited about exercising. It was very rewarding to be able to watch them leave the week knowing how to use our equipment and excited about the thought of joining as a member. They made an average week in January a very fun and memorable one,” said Lexie Wilson, senior club manager for the Holland location.

Red Mountain Management Services has nine clubs, all located in western Michigan.

Planet Fitness^® franchisees work hard to give back to Boys & Girls Club of America locations across the country. Taymax Group partnered with Planet Fitness Headquarters to donate a mini Judgement Free Zone^® to the Boys & Girls Club in Nashua, New Hampshire, about an hour from PF^® headquarters.

The 442-square-foot mini JFZ center is located inside a Boys & Girls Club at One Positive Pl. CDM Fitness Holdings donated the fitness equipment for the center, which has 10 pieces of cardio and strength equipment. Boys & Girls Club members ages 13 and older will be able to access the fitness center. The goal of the center is to provide teenagers with the opportunity to work out in a safe place without the risk of bullying.

“This fitness center will provide enhanced fitness opportunities and help build our kids’ confidence and self-esteem, enabling them to reach their full potential,” said Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua Craig Fitzgerald.

The franchise group held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Dec. 8 with Planet Fitness CEO Chris Rondeau in attendance. PFHQ lent a helping hand to the donation efforts by assisting with the equipment donation. While Taymax does not have any local clubs near the mini JFZ in Nashua, New Hampshire, the town is where CEO Tim Kelleher grew up, making the donation that much more special!

The winter can be a hard – and expensive – season for many, which is why Taymax had 25 of its Canadian locations participate in a holiday drive for local Boys & Girls Clubs. Although the franchise group has 30 locations in Canada, five locations do not have a Boys & Girls Club in their community. The holiday drive ran from mid-November to mid-December.

The donations ranged from toys to winter clothing to non-perishable food items. Each club donated two to three bags full of toys, non-perishable goods and other items. The donations were given to 14 local Boys & Girls Club locations, including BGC clubs in Kawartha Lakes, Ottawa, Peel, Albion, Southeast, Moncton, Saint John, London, Durham, West Scarborough, Eastview, Pembroke, Hamilton-Halton and Cornwall. The franchise group’s field leadership team worked closely with each Boys & Girls Club delegate to make sure the families were well supported through the donations.

“We feel very thankful to be included in this initiative and know it will make the holidays of many families brighter. Thank you to Planet Fitness^® for supporting Boys & Girls Club Southeast,” said Amanda Guarino, associate director of BGC Southeast.

This was the second year in a row Taymax has participated in the holiday drive, and the group hopes to grow the drive more each year.