Anytime Fitness Corporation Franchise News

130 Clubs Now Open as Master Franchisees Set Record Pace.
SYDNEY, Feb. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- It took Anytime Fitness, the world's largest and fastest-growing fitness club chain, nearly three years to sell 300 franchise territories and open 130 clubs in the United States. The club's master franchisees for Australia, the brother-and-sister team of Justin McDonell and Jacinta McDonell-Jimenez, recently matched those same impressive numbers in Australia.
"The Anytime Fitness business model offers an amazing balance of lifestyle and a rewarding business," said McDonell-Jimenez. "Some of our franchisees own as many as nine clubs and still enjoy a great personal lifestyle. This is almost impossible to achieve in other franchise businesses...

Anytime Fitness Teams with Warrior Dash to Promote "Fun-Loving Fitness"
HASTINGS, Minn., Feb. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Anytime Fitness is getting down and dirty. The world's largest and fastest-growing fitness club chain recently entered into an agreement to become the "Official Fitness Club of Warrior Dash" – a "mud-crawling, fire leaping, extreme run from Hell," according to the race organizers, Red Frog Events.
"Warrior Dash is all about having a good time with friends while being active and pushing yourself to the limit,"said Dave Mortensen, President and co-founder of Anytime Fitness. "That attitude is consistent with our belief that fitness should be fun. Anytime Fitness members will be making a mess and tearing up courses all over the country...

Trends Include More Late-Night Workouts, Cashing in on Reimbursements and March Busiest Month
HASTINGS, Minn., Jan. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2011, more Anytime Fitness members worked out late at night, cashed in on health insurance reimbursements and made March the busiest workout month.
The statistics are part of the second annual Anytime Fitness "Weight of the Union" report, which examined the fitness and nutritional habits of its 1.3 million members. Anytime Fitness is the world's fastest growing co-ed fitness club with more than 1,800 clubs in 50 states and 11 countries.
"The obesity epidemic in this country continues to rise and Americans need to get serious about health and wellness," said Chuck Runyon, CEO of Anytime Fitness and co-author of Working Out Sucks...

International Growth Leads to Recognition as a "Top Global Franchise"
HASTINGS, Minn., Jan. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Anytime Fitness, the fastest-growing fitness club chain in the world, will soon open its first club in the Middle East. The first of several Anytime Fitness clubs in the State of Qatar opened on January 1, 2012.
Almuftah Marketing, a division of the Almuftah Group, will own and operate the clubs in Qatar, per the terms of an Area Development Agreement with Anytime Fitness, LLC. The Almuftah Group is a privately held company based in Doha, Qatar, involved in a wide variety of business ventures, including restaurant franchising (Pizza Hut, Arby's, TCBY, among others), consumer retail products (jewelry, watches, cosmetics), automobile sales, and manufacturing and engineering...

Entrepreneur Magazine Also Ranks Anytime Fitness #11 Overall on its "Franchise 500" List
HASTINGS, Minn., Dec. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Anytime Fitness, the world's largest and fastest-growing co-ed fitness club chain, is ranked #11 (up from #18 last year) on Entrepreneur magazine's annual "Franchise 500" list. Opening new clubs at a rate of nearly one every business day while serving more than 1,400,000 members worldwide, Anytime Fitness is also ranked #1 in the "Fitness Businesses" category by Entrepreneur.
According to Entrepreneur, the most important factors for inclusion on its "Franchise 500" list are: financial strength and stability, growth rate and size of the system.
"Considering the reputation and status of the other franchises ranked in the top 10, including Subway, McDonalds, and Hampton Hotels, this is a tremendous honor for Anytime Fitness," said Chuck Runyon, CEO and co-founder of Anytime Fitness...

24-hour Co-ed Fitness Club Offers Convenience and Affordability to the North Dallas Community.
Dallas, TX, December 02, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Anytime Fitness, the world’s largest and fastest growing 24-hour co-ed fitness franchise, is pleased to announce it is open for business in The Arbors Shopping Center at Preston/Frankford. A grand opening celebration will take place on Saturday December 10th, from 9 AM to 3 PM.
With 24/7 access, Anytime Fitness offers convenient and affordable exercise. At Anytime Fitness, members can workout any time of the day or night, every day of the year. Anytime Fitness members use a security-access key to enter a private club, even when it is not staffed. Once inside, members have full use of state-of-the-art strength training and cardiovascular equipment...

World-Record Holder and Top Franchisee among those Honored at Annual Conference
WASHINGTON, Oct. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A 71-year-old woman who recently topped the Guinness World Record for abdominal planking, an elite wheelchair marathoner, a woman who conquered a life-threatening eating disorder, a young mother who lost more than 150 pounds, and the "Franchisee of the Year" were among those honored at Anytime Fitness' annual conference in Washington, D.C. last week.
"With more than 1,000,000 members and nearly 1,700 clubs worldwide, we have amazing, extraordinary stories of real people conquering challenges and inspiring others every day," said Dave Mortensen, president and co-founder of Anytime Fitness. "We are honored to have such dedicated and committed franchisee owners and members that make a difference in their communities and inspire others to live a healthy life...

International Expansion Accelerates for Fastest-Growing Fitness Franchise
HASTINGS, Minn., Oct. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Anytime Fitness, the world's fastest-growing fitness club franchise, has opened its 100th club in Australia. The impressive milestone comes just three years after the brother-sister team of Justin McDonell and Jacinta McDonell-Jimenez began serving as ″master franchisees″ in Australia for Anytime Fitness.
The 100th Australian club officially opened October 1st in Thornton, New South Wales and it is owned by Steve Rollings. Mr. Rollings owns and operates a total of eight Anytime Fitness clubs in Australia. Anytime Fitness now has more than 1,650 clubs in ten countries, and 1,300,000 members, worldwide...

Betty Lou Sweeney Endures Nearly 37 Minutes of Abdominal Planking
STEVENS POINT, Wis., Sept. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Anytime Fitness member and Wisconsin native, Betty Lou Sweeney today broke the Guinness World Record for holding the abdominal plank with a time of 36 minutes and 58 seconds. The previous world record was 33 minutes and 40 seconds.
Betty Lou was joined by her Anytime Fitness trainer, Dave Candra, and cheered on by her husband Tom along with Anytime Fitness members and supporters earlier today at the Anytime Fitness in Stevens Point.
For Betty Lou, the accomplishment capped off an amazing two-year journey. In 2009, Betty Lou was severely overweight and nearly died from complications from an infection that went septic and shut down her kidneys...

Coming Soon to Gulpen and Landgraaf; Long-Range Plans Include Serving the Entire Benelux Region HASTINGS, Minn., July 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Anytime Fitness, the world's largest and fastest-growing co-ed fitness club chain continues to accelerate its international expansion -- this time, with the opening of its first club in the Benelux region (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) in Susteren, Netherlands.

Susteren opens its doors a year after a master franchise agreement was signed to bring the Anytime Fitness concept to the Benelux region -- a plan that aims to open as many as 150 clubs over the next 10 years.

"It's been my dream to make healthy lifestyles more affordable and accessible for people in the Benelux, and we're off to a great start in Susteren," says master franchisee, Petro Hameleers...

Winners Who Applied for "Scholarships" Come From All Walks of Life ST. PAUL, Minn., May 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — In celebration of the franchise's 1,000,000th member, Anytime Fitness clubs all over the country are giving away more than $400,000 worth of free annual memberships. Nearly 700 participating Anytime Fitness clubs each chose one or more lucky individuals to receive "scholarships" valued at approximately $500 apiece.

The winning applicants in Anytime Fitness' "Feel Like a Million" campaign described a wide variety of challenges to leading healthier lifestyles – from economic hardships to time constraints and physical limitations – but all of the winners expressed a strong desire to improve the quality of their own lives through regular exercise, and vowed to "pay it forward" if given the opportunity...

Coming soon to Qatar, long-range plans for other Middle Eastern Countries HASTINGS, Minn., Feb. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Anytime Fitness LLC, the world's largest co-ed health club chain, announced today its intention to open health clubs in the Middle East, per the terms of an Area Development Agreement with Qatar-based Almuftah Group.

The Area Development Agreement will result initially in the opening of three health clubs in the State of Qatar, under the ownership of Almuftah Marketing, a division of the Almuftah Group. The Almuftah Group is a privately held company based in Doha, Qatar, involved in a wide variety of business ventures, including restaurant franchising (Pizza Hut, Arby's, TCBY, among others), consumer retail products (jewelry, watches, cosmetics), automobile sales, and manufacturing and engineering...

Anytime Fitness Launches "Feel Like A Million" Campaign to Give Away $1 Million, a Franchise and Free Access to AnytimeHealth.com. Cudahy, WI, February 08, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Anytime Fitness, the world's fastest growing co-ed fitness club—with more than 1,500 clubs in all 50 states and seven countries—welcomed its millionth member on January 17, 2011. To celebrate, Anytime Fitness has launched the Feel Like A Million campaign and will give away $1 million in prizes and free access to online fitness and nutritional support from AnytimeHealth.com. In addition, Anytime Fitness will help one lucky person open an Anytime Fitness franchise.

"Being a million members strong and having more than 1500 clubs open worldwide are great reasons to celebrate, but it's really about our members and their fitness success...

Late Night Workouts, Getting Paid to Workout and Online Health Tracking Among Key Trends HASTINGS, Minn., Jan. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Americans embracing the need to get fit are finding time whenever they can to exercise. In fact, a recent study found that more than 900,000 people worked out between midnight – 4 a.m. in 2010. The study also found that contrary to popular belief, March is the busiest month for hitting the gym.

The statistics are part of Anytime Fitness' "Weight of the Union" Report, which examined the fitness and nutritional habits of its one million members. Anytime Fitness is the world's fastest growing co-ed fitness club with 1,500 clubs in 50 states and 7 countries.

The study also found that financial incentives were a significant motivating factor in recurring gym visits...

Anytime Fitness Launches "Feel Like a Million" Campaign To Give Away $1 Million, a Franchise and Free Online Support HASTINGS, Minn., Jan. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Anytime Fitness, the world's fastest growing co-ed fitness club with more than 1,500 clubs in all 50 states and seven countries, will soon be welcoming its millionth member. To celebrate, Anytime Fitness is kicking off the Feel Like A Million campaign and will give away $1 million in prizes and free access to online fitness and nutritional support from AnytimeHealth.com. In addition, Anytime Fitness will help one lucky person open an Anytime Fitness franchise.

"As we approach our millionth member and our 1,500th club, we want to celebrate the fitness successes of all of our members, and also entice others to commit to a healthier lifestyle and feel like a million," said Chuck Runyon, CEO of Anytime Fitness...

Cudahy, WI, December 10, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Jennifer Moreau, owner of Anytime Fitness Cudahy, announced today that with the holidays coming up and the New Year, commitments to health and weight loss tend to be top of mind, but can falter greatly. The media are invited to see and learn about a unique workout facility that not only offers free Saturday boot camps, but also focuses on people from all walks of life in a community and family type setting. Moreau explains that one of the first resolutions to go is weight loss goals and because of that, she has invited the media to visit and experience Anytime Fitness Cudahy's free fitness bootcamps at 9:00 a.m. on December 11th and December 18th. She also extends the media invitation to their holiday party where the winner of the "Biggest Shredder" contest will be announced the evening of Monday, December 20th...

Interior Design Upgrades Enhance Member Experience HASTINGS, Minn. /PRNewswire/ -- In pursuit of the optimal workout environment for its nearly one million members, Anytime Fitness, the world's largest co-ed fitness chain has enlisted the award-winning talents of Fabiano Designs, a New Jersey based design firm, to give its clubs a fresh, new look and feel.

"The remodeling effort is the next evolution in our club style," says Chuck Runyon, co-founder and CEO of Anytime Fitness. "It's also an example of how we're constantly striving to improve the member experience every way we can."

The traditional Anytime Fitness purple color will maintain a presence in clubs, but it will be complemented by softer and more natural tones...

Adds More Than 1,300 New Locations to Fitness Center Network

PHILADELPHIA, PA--(Marketwire - September 14, 2010) - GlobalFit, the leading provider of corporate health and wellness programs to employers and insurers nationwide, has announced a partnership with Anytime Fitness, the world's largest co-ed fitness franchise. Through GlobalFit, eligible employees can join participating fitness centers at reduced rates.
This partnership adds more than 1,300 new locations to GlobalFit's fitness center network, already the largest of its kind with more than 12,000 gyms for employees to choose from. GlobalFit serves more than 1,400 employers nationwide with a broad range of affordable fitness and wellness programs aimed at increasing activity and assisting weight control...

World's Largest Co-ed Fitness Chain Features Convenient, Affordable Clubs HASTINGS, Minn. /PRNewswire/ -- Anticipating enthusiastic responses from consumers and investors alike, Wayzata Poland Z.O.O., a subsidiary of Wayzata Capital, signed an Area Development Agreement to operate Anytime Fitness clubs in Poland.

The signing comes just weeks after Anytime Fitness announced plans to open clubs in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), and Japan.

MG Kaminski and Robert Lada currently operate Wayzata Capital, a Minnesota-based assets management firm that deals in Eastern European securities. Kaminski is a native of Poland, and Lada has spent significant time there and speaks the language...

World's Largest Co-ed Fitness Chain Features Convenient, Affordable Clubs HASTINGS, Minn. /PRNewswire/ -- Motivated by a personal desire to help others improve their lives through fitness, Petro Hameleers of the Netherlands has signed a master franchise agreement to open as many as 150 Anytime Fitness clubs in the Benelux region (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) over the next 10 years. Hameleers, a multi-club owner and physical therapist with more than 15 years experience in the fitness industry, says his first Anytime Fitness club could be open as soon as January of 2011.

"We look forward to our affiliation with Petro Hameleers in the Benelux," said John Kersh, Vice President of International Development for Anytime Fitness...