Crunch executives on how the brand is executing growth strategy

It might be summer, but for high-value, low-price (HVLP) gym Crunch Fitness, it’s bulking season. With 154 locations worldwide in 2016, the brand now boasts over 550 premises globally, padded by expansions into several countries around the world, including new targets in Western Europe and Southeast Asia. The big picture: Crunch is generating growth at a time when other low-cost gyms are struggling to weather broader macroeconomic trends.

The gains didn’t always come easy for Crunch, which opened its first location in New York City in 1989. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009 and has changed hands twice since 2019. Now, it’s fair to say it’s rocking an impressive pump, with a successful franchise model acting as the backbone of the enterprise.

Revenue Brew spoke with Crunch executives on how they built the momentum and what comes next.

Build it, and they will crunch: While data is essential to how Crunch has built its expansion engine, new CEO Chequan Lewis prides himself on being in a Crunch facility essentially “every day, somewhere.” As a result, he constantly has eyes on what’s resonating with consumers, and what’s not.

“I walked into the gym, and I was like, ‘This seems more crowded than last time I was here.’ I go pull the operations manager, [who said,] ‘You know what? I’ve been getting some complaints about this. It might be helpful if we did [something] different.’ That turns into a decision,” Lewis said.

While rolling out the new “Crunch 3.0” gym layout, Lewis and his team are emphasizing “flexibility, modularity, and adaptability.” These three factors, and the local expertise of individual franchise owners, helped Crunch make in-gym decisions that account for geographic preferences and trends while scaling.

“Sometimes in a secondary town in Wisconsin, you may not have a space that big. It may be 20,000 or 25,000 square feet, so that means you have to make some choices,” Lewis said. “[The local operator] may say, ‘Hot yoga, for example, is a must-have here.’ In another place, they may say, ‘You know what? Hot yoga is just not playing in this market. Don’t put it on me. Let me do the ride studio instead.’”

Lewis believes these decisions make Crunch a high-value gym, and not just another brand with a low price.

“Price can be what attracts someone to you, but it can’t be why someone stays with you. People stay with you because of the experience,” Lewis said.

Team work makes the expansion work: While the franchise model is popular for commercial gyms, it has the potential to create disjointed experiences and miscommunication, which Crunch works hard to avoid. CMO Chad Waetzig said he and his team work closely with franchise owners to create a marketing mix in line with Crunch locations across the country, but also effective within an individual market.

“Half of what we do in marketing really does get bubbled up from our franchisees, and half of it is—I wouldn’t say top-down—but it’s corporate strategies that we share with the network. It really is a partnership,” Waetzig said.

According to Waetzig, the brand currently has over 20 active partnerships, including one with athletic apparel retailer Gymshark.

“Each of those brands offers some discount or value that’s unique to having a Crunch membership. In fact, what we tell our members is that if you truly take advantage of the offers that we have through our partnerships, your membership [pays for] itself,” Waetzig said.

Expert insight: fitness industry

Jon Bier is founder of Jack Taylor PR, which represents health and wellness clients like Whoop, IM8, and Ammortal. He believes Crunch is on the right path and said diversified membership tiers and upgraded offerings are key differentiators. He also highlighted partnership selections as one of the most effective and lowest-hanging levers brands can use to resonate with existing customers and to reach new ones.

“Few things give you as fast or as deep a bump when it’s done right, and few things look as hollow when it isn’t. Not just logos. Deep connection, real product, storytelling, and an aligned truth between the two brands,” Bier wrote in an email to Revenue Brew.

As the fitness industry continues to boom, Bier said that Crunch should continue to cater toward trends, but it should never stray too far from what made it effective to begin with.

“Don’t alienate your current customer chasing a new one. If the connection to that new audience isn’t authentic, it’s much harder to make work and a dangerous game to play. This goes wrong far more than it goes right,” Bier told Revenue Brew.