Planet Fitness Comes to Canada
Options
Replies
-
cmasongreen wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »My biggest beef with PF isn't that it's a gym, it's not that it has a judgemental 'judgement free' zone. It's not that they offer free pizza one a week or month. It's not the lunk alarm or that there are no free weights. It's not that the CEO doesn't use his own gyms and works out in his basement.
My beef with PF is that they advertise themselves as a gym for people to get healthy when really, that's the opposite from their real goal. Their real goal is to lure people who don't go to the gym to give them $10/month, every month. There is one, count it: ONE Planet Fitness in Canada so far that opened not long ago. It already has 6000 members. That's $60k in their pocket EVERY MONTH. I'm willing to bet most of those people will only go once or twice, yet they will never cancel their membership.
Planet Fitness isn't in the business to make you healthy. They're in it for the money.
Which, frankly, is brilliant.
I'm not trying to stir anything up. HONESTLY! I am just making an observation. But isn't the goal for every gym to make as much as they can? Whether to expand their business or better the locations that they already have? No gym has enough space for all of their members, so that points to other gyms making money on their clients that don't go.
From what I can tell there is no statistical data that shows that Planet Fitness has more non-attending members than that of, for example, Gold's Gym. Granted, I haven't exactly done hard research.
But I would be more than happy to be proven wrong if that is the case. I don't want to throw out false information.
I wasn't claiming that no gym out there has members who never go to the gym, but 99% of the gyms out there don't have a $10 membership fee. $50/month out of your pocket is a lot more noticeable when you don't use it than $10/month is.
Committing to joining a gym for $50+/month is quite an investment for many people. 90% of the population wouldn't even consider doing such a thing. they have better things to spend their money on.
But offer them $10? That's as much as a meal from McDonald's! Suddenly, you have a place that 90% would consider joining, even though they will likely never use it.
Planet Fitness will barely make any money off of each membership, but since they have such a gigantic audience they can gather money from, boom. Sudden massive profits from people who will rarely make use of their services, and will likely not cancel their subscription.0 -
Its a business. They need to make money to stay open and pay overhead and grow. Considering the low price for membership I would join in a heartbeat if they had one by my house. I cant afford the $50 plus per month gyms in my neighborhood and my basement isn't conducive considering I get "mom, mom, mom" every 5 minutes.0
-
chivalryder wrote: »cmasongreen wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »My biggest beef with PF isn't that it's a gym, it's not that it has a judgemental 'judgement free' zone. It's not that they offer free pizza one a week or month. It's not the lunk alarm or that there are no free weights. It's not that the CEO doesn't use his own gyms and works out in his basement.
My beef with PF is that they advertise themselves as a gym for people to get healthy when really, that's the opposite from their real goal. Their real goal is to lure people who don't go to the gym to give them $10/month, every month. There is one, count it: ONE Planet Fitness in Canada so far that opened not long ago. It already has 6000 members. That's $60k in their pocket EVERY MONTH. I'm willing to bet most of those people will only go once or twice, yet they will never cancel their membership.
Planet Fitness isn't in the business to make you healthy. They're in it for the money.
Which, frankly, is brilliant.
I'm not trying to stir anything up. HONESTLY! I am just making an observation. But isn't the goal for every gym to make as much as they can? Whether to expand their business or better the locations that they already have? No gym has enough space for all of their members, so that points to other gyms making money on their clients that don't go.
From what I can tell there is no statistical data that shows that Planet Fitness has more non-attending members than that of, for example, Gold's Gym. Granted, I haven't exactly done hard research.
But I would be more than happy to be proven wrong if that is the case. I don't want to throw out false information.
I wasn't claiming that no gym out there has members who never go to the gym, but 99% of the gyms out there don't have a $10 membership fee. $50/month out of your pocket is a lot more noticeable when you don't use it than $10/month is.
Committing to joining a gym for $50+/month is quite an investment for many people. 90% of the population wouldn't even consider doing such a thing. they have better things to spend their money on.
But offer them $10? That's as much as a meal from McDonald's! Suddenly, you have a place that 90% would consider joining, even though they will likely never use it.
Planet Fitness will barely make any money off of each membership, but since they have such a gigantic audience they can gather money from, boom. Sudden massive profits from people who will rarely make use of their services, and will likely not cancel their subscription.
Well then I suppose we can only hope that those who don't go will at least spend $10 less a month at McDonald's!
But yeah, I can see where you are coming from. It's just a different marketing technique than other gyms use. So I am sure that new gyms will start popping up with the same ploy. Regardless, I am one of those people that fork out $10 a month, and I will definitely keep doing it until they no longer can fit my lifting requirements (so it might be a while).
Plus it helps that they are about 2 minutes from my house.0 -
cmasongreen wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »cmasongreen wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »My biggest beef with PF isn't that it's a gym, it's not that it has a judgemental 'judgement free' zone. It's not that they offer free pizza one a week or month. It's not the lunk alarm or that there are no free weights. It's not that the CEO doesn't use his own gyms and works out in his basement.
My beef with PF is that they advertise themselves as a gym for people to get healthy when really, that's the opposite from their real goal. Their real goal is to lure people who don't go to the gym to give them $10/month, every month. There is one, count it: ONE Planet Fitness in Canada so far that opened not long ago. It already has 6000 members. That's $60k in their pocket EVERY MONTH. I'm willing to bet most of those people will only go once or twice, yet they will never cancel their membership.
Planet Fitness isn't in the business to make you healthy. They're in it for the money.
Which, frankly, is brilliant.
I'm not trying to stir anything up. HONESTLY! I am just making an observation. But isn't the goal for every gym to make as much as they can? Whether to expand their business or better the locations that they already have? No gym has enough space for all of their members, so that points to other gyms making money on their clients that don't go.
From what I can tell there is no statistical data that shows that Planet Fitness has more non-attending members than that of, for example, Gold's Gym. Granted, I haven't exactly done hard research.
But I would be more than happy to be proven wrong if that is the case. I don't want to throw out false information.
I wasn't claiming that no gym out there has members who never go to the gym, but 99% of the gyms out there don't have a $10 membership fee. $50/month out of your pocket is a lot more noticeable when you don't use it than $10/month is.
Committing to joining a gym for $50+/month is quite an investment for many people. 90% of the population wouldn't even consider doing such a thing. they have better things to spend their money on.
But offer them $10? That's as much as a meal from McDonald's! Suddenly, you have a place that 90% would consider joining, even though they will likely never use it.
Planet Fitness will barely make any money off of each membership, but since they have such a gigantic audience they can gather money from, boom. Sudden massive profits from people who will rarely make use of their services, and will likely not cancel their subscription.
Well then I suppose we can only hope that those who don't go will at least spend $10 less a month at McDonald's!
But yeah, I can see where you are coming from. It's just a different marketing technique than other gyms use. So I am sure that new gyms will start popping up with the same ploy. Regardless, I am one of those people that fork out $10 a month, and I will definitely keep doing it until they no longer can fit my lifting requirements (so it might be a while).
Plus it helps that they are about 2 minutes from my house.
Hey, if you're actually going to use it, more power to you. You're one of the few.
The location in Toronto has 6000 members. If each person used it for an hour, 3x per week, and it were open 24 hours/day, then there would be an average of 95 people in the gym every minute of every day. I don't think there's enough space in the gym for that many people!0 -
chivalryder wrote: »cmasongreen wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »cmasongreen wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »My biggest beef with PF isn't that it's a gym, it's not that it has a judgemental 'judgement free' zone. It's not that they offer free pizza one a week or month. It's not the lunk alarm or that there are no free weights. It's not that the CEO doesn't use his own gyms and works out in his basement.
My beef with PF is that they advertise themselves as a gym for people to get healthy when really, that's the opposite from their real goal. Their real goal is to lure people who don't go to the gym to give them $10/month, every month. There is one, count it: ONE Planet Fitness in Canada so far that opened not long ago. It already has 6000 members. That's $60k in their pocket EVERY MONTH. I'm willing to bet most of those people will only go once or twice, yet they will never cancel their membership.
Planet Fitness isn't in the business to make you healthy. They're in it for the money.
Which, frankly, is brilliant.
I'm not trying to stir anything up. HONESTLY! I am just making an observation. But isn't the goal for every gym to make as much as they can? Whether to expand their business or better the locations that they already have? No gym has enough space for all of their members, so that points to other gyms making money on their clients that don't go.
From what I can tell there is no statistical data that shows that Planet Fitness has more non-attending members than that of, for example, Gold's Gym. Granted, I haven't exactly done hard research.
But I would be more than happy to be proven wrong if that is the case. I don't want to throw out false information.
I wasn't claiming that no gym out there has members who never go to the gym, but 99% of the gyms out there don't have a $10 membership fee. $50/month out of your pocket is a lot more noticeable when you don't use it than $10/month is.
Committing to joining a gym for $50+/month is quite an investment for many people. 90% of the population wouldn't even consider doing such a thing. they have better things to spend their money on.
But offer them $10? That's as much as a meal from McDonald's! Suddenly, you have a place that 90% would consider joining, even though they will likely never use it.
Planet Fitness will barely make any money off of each membership, but since they have such a gigantic audience they can gather money from, boom. Sudden massive profits from people who will rarely make use of their services, and will likely not cancel their subscription.
Well then I suppose we can only hope that those who don't go will at least spend $10 less a month at McDonald's!
But yeah, I can see where you are coming from. It's just a different marketing technique than other gyms use. So I am sure that new gyms will start popping up with the same ploy. Regardless, I am one of those people that fork out $10 a month, and I will definitely keep doing it until they no longer can fit my lifting requirements (so it might be a while).
Plus it helps that they are about 2 minutes from my house.
Hey, if you're actually going to use it, more power to you. You're one of the few.
The location in Toronto has 6000 members. If each person used it for an hour, 3x per week, and it were open 24 hours/day, then there would be an average of 95 people in the gym every minute of every day. I don't think there's enough space in the gym for that many people!
Yeah I think you're right.
A little off topic, but I think that we just made MFP history. The first discussion that didn't inevitably turn into a hate fest!
Someone should definitely mark this day down.0 -
chivalryder wrote: »
Hey, if you're actually going to use it, more power to you. You're one of the few.
The location in Toronto has 6000 members. If each person used it for an hour, 3x per week, and it were open 24 hours/day, then there would be an average of 95 people in the gym every minute of every day. I don't think there's enough space in the gym for that many people!
My thought exactly when I first read that. 6000 members for one location! And no one even has an option to go anywhere else, because it is the only one location. I wonder if they informed people signing up that there were that many members, and if they have a cut off??? Seems like they are counting on a good portion not using it on a regular basis.0 -
cmasongreen wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »cmasongreen wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »cmasongreen wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »My biggest beef with PF isn't that it's a gym, it's not that it has a judgemental 'judgement free' zone. It's not that they offer free pizza one a week or month. It's not the lunk alarm or that there are no free weights. It's not that the CEO doesn't use his own gyms and works out in his basement.
My beef with PF is that they advertise themselves as a gym for people to get healthy when really, that's the opposite from their real goal. Their real goal is to lure people who don't go to the gym to give them $10/month, every month. There is one, count it: ONE Planet Fitness in Canada so far that opened not long ago. It already has 6000 members. That's $60k in their pocket EVERY MONTH. I'm willing to bet most of those people will only go once or twice, yet they will never cancel their membership.
Planet Fitness isn't in the business to make you healthy. They're in it for the money.
Which, frankly, is brilliant.
I'm not trying to stir anything up. HONESTLY! I am just making an observation. But isn't the goal for every gym to make as much as they can? Whether to expand their business or better the locations that they already have? No gym has enough space for all of their members, so that points to other gyms making money on their clients that don't go.
From what I can tell there is no statistical data that shows that Planet Fitness has more non-attending members than that of, for example, Gold's Gym. Granted, I haven't exactly done hard research.
But I would be more than happy to be proven wrong if that is the case. I don't want to throw out false information.
I wasn't claiming that no gym out there has members who never go to the gym, but 99% of the gyms out there don't have a $10 membership fee. $50/month out of your pocket is a lot more noticeable when you don't use it than $10/month is.
Committing to joining a gym for $50+/month is quite an investment for many people. 90% of the population wouldn't even consider doing such a thing. they have better things to spend their money on.
But offer them $10? That's as much as a meal from McDonald's! Suddenly, you have a place that 90% would consider joining, even though they will likely never use it.
Planet Fitness will barely make any money off of each membership, but since they have such a gigantic audience they can gather money from, boom. Sudden massive profits from people who will rarely make use of their services, and will likely not cancel their subscription.
Well then I suppose we can only hope that those who don't go will at least spend $10 less a month at McDonald's!
But yeah, I can see where you are coming from. It's just a different marketing technique than other gyms use. So I am sure that new gyms will start popping up with the same ploy. Regardless, I am one of those people that fork out $10 a month, and I will definitely keep doing it until they no longer can fit my lifting requirements (so it might be a while).
Plus it helps that they are about 2 minutes from my house.
Hey, if you're actually going to use it, more power to you. You're one of the few.
The location in Toronto has 6000 members. If each person used it for an hour, 3x per week, and it were open 24 hours/day, then there would be an average of 95 people in the gym every minute of every day. I don't think there's enough space in the gym for that many people!
Yeah I think you're right.
A little off topic, but I think that we just made MFP history. The first discussion that didn't inevitably turn into a hate fest!
Someone should definitely mark this day down.
I don't participate in hate fests. I state my opinion, or factual statements with evidence to back up what I say. I don't argue against ignorance.0 -
chivalryder wrote: »
Hey, if you're actually going to use it, more power to you. You're one of the few.
The location in Toronto has 6000 members. If each person used it for an hour, 3x per week, and it were open 24 hours/day, then there would be an average of 95 people in the gym every minute of every day. I don't think there's enough space in the gym for that many people!
My thought exactly when I first read that. 6000 members for one location! And no one even has an option to go anywhere else, because it is the only one location. I wonder if they informed people signing up that there were that many members, and if they have a cut off??? Seems like they are counting on a good portion not using it on a regular basis.
They probably don't have a cut off because they know they can just bring in the profits.0 -
chivalryder wrote: »cmasongreen wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »cmasongreen wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »cmasongreen wrote: »chivalryder wrote: »My biggest beef with PF isn't that it's a gym, it's not that it has a judgemental 'judgement free' zone. It's not that they offer free pizza one a week or month. It's not the lunk alarm or that there are no free weights. It's not that the CEO doesn't use his own gyms and works out in his basement.
My beef with PF is that they advertise themselves as a gym for people to get healthy when really, that's the opposite from their real goal. Their real goal is to lure people who don't go to the gym to give them $10/month, every month. There is one, count it: ONE Planet Fitness in Canada so far that opened not long ago. It already has 6000 members. That's $60k in their pocket EVERY MONTH. I'm willing to bet most of those people will only go once or twice, yet they will never cancel their membership.
Planet Fitness isn't in the business to make you healthy. They're in it for the money.
Which, frankly, is brilliant.
I'm not trying to stir anything up. HONESTLY! I am just making an observation. But isn't the goal for every gym to make as much as they can? Whether to expand their business or better the locations that they already have? No gym has enough space for all of their members, so that points to other gyms making money on their clients that don't go.
From what I can tell there is no statistical data that shows that Planet Fitness has more non-attending members than that of, for example, Gold's Gym. Granted, I haven't exactly done hard research.
But I would be more than happy to be proven wrong if that is the case. I don't want to throw out false information.
I wasn't claiming that no gym out there has members who never go to the gym, but 99% of the gyms out there don't have a $10 membership fee. $50/month out of your pocket is a lot more noticeable when you don't use it than $10/month is.
Committing to joining a gym for $50+/month is quite an investment for many people. 90% of the population wouldn't even consider doing such a thing. they have better things to spend their money on.
But offer them $10? That's as much as a meal from McDonald's! Suddenly, you have a place that 90% would consider joining, even though they will likely never use it.
Planet Fitness will barely make any money off of each membership, but since they have such a gigantic audience they can gather money from, boom. Sudden massive profits from people who will rarely make use of their services, and will likely not cancel their subscription.
Well then I suppose we can only hope that those who don't go will at least spend $10 less a month at McDonald's!
But yeah, I can see where you are coming from. It's just a different marketing technique than other gyms use. So I am sure that new gyms will start popping up with the same ploy. Regardless, I am one of those people that fork out $10 a month, and I will definitely keep doing it until they no longer can fit my lifting requirements (so it might be a while).
Plus it helps that they are about 2 minutes from my house.
Hey, if you're actually going to use it, more power to you. You're one of the few.
The location in Toronto has 6000 members. If each person used it for an hour, 3x per week, and it were open 24 hours/day, then there would be an average of 95 people in the gym every minute of every day. I don't think there's enough space in the gym for that many people!
Yeah I think you're right.
A little off topic, but I think that we just made MFP history. The first discussion that didn't inevitably turn into a hate fest!
Someone should definitely mark this day down.
I don't participate in hate fests. I state my opinion, or factual statements with evidence to back up what I say. I don't argue against ignorance.
I don't argue against ignorance.
That should be a bumper sticker.0 -
I'm not saying all gyms are full of judgement. I honestly think they use that as a target for people who are extremely self conscious and afraid to go to gyms. I have a friend who refused to go to the gym in our building because she didn't want people to see her working out and didn't want to join a real gym because she felt she was the only overweight person there. It made her feel at ease.
I hate that they offer pizza and bagels, too. Our PP has tons of members but there are never that many in it. But on pizza or bagel day, I pull up to a gym that I can normally park easily, and there are about 100 cars in the parking lot and fifty people sitting in the lobby area eating. All of them I have never seen in the gym before. I then spend the entire night trying to get to the weights and they are too busy hanging out on the incline bench texting.
The staff then procedes to try to give me pizza. I understand it's okay if it's in your calories but I don't eat pizza.
0 -
Found the article. That was a great chuckle.
Honestly, I've read some stories about some PFs where they have a good lifting set up and don't care if you lift or make some minor noise so long as it isn't blatant screaming. But I've seen more stories about how some folks are told not to run on treadmills or exhale while lifting.
To be honest, if I had a PF gym nearby that charged $10/month, had a good locker room, a decent weight set up and didn't judge me for lifting or running, I would be fine with that.
But yeah. If I had the cash, a basement gym would definitely be my preference.
And to be frank, I'd definitely go to PF on a pizza day, grab a slice, sit on a chair (not a machine or bench) and just watch the shenanigans. Sounds like fun. Planet Fitness' business model is something I can definitely get behind - they've found a good niche, cornered it and done well.0 -
chivalryder wrote: »Planet Fitness isn't in the business to make you healthy. They're in it for the money.
Which, frankly, is brilliant.
This is precisely the type of gym chain I'd like to open one day. They've found a good formula, and I respect them for their business acumen, and ability to fleece people with savvy marketing strategy.0 -
They have no reason to tell them.I wonder if they informed people signing up that there were that many members, and if they have a cut off??? Seems like they are counting on a good portion not using it on a regular basis.
also, rest assured there is a significant amount of analytics going on, from mixture of machines to layout. They know pretty well just how many of those 6k will use in a month, and I'd bet the number is sub 5%.
0 -
I'd bet the number is sub 5%.
That is why the don't want bodybuilders or "Lunks" joining. They target their advertisement to the type of person who will join and not show up. The low price is also factored in to likelihood of attendance. Most people don't feel compelled to use their membership if it is only a waste of $10. A higher price would bring in more money but more people would actually be showing up. Their business plan is a delicate balance of getting the most members to join without having to expand the size or number of facilities.0 -
I'd bet the number is sub 5%.
That is why the don't want bodybuilders or "Lunks" joining. They target their advertisement to the type of person who will join and not show up. The low price is also factored in to likelihood of attendance. Most people don't feel compelled to use their membership if it is only a waste of $10. A higher price would bring in more money but more people would actually be showing up. Their business plan is a delicate balance of getting the most members to join without having to expand the size or number of facilities.
They're planning on opening 80 within the Greater Toronto Area.0 -
LifeInTheBikeLane wrote: »Have you ever been into a planet fitness? It's not a bad gym. My local planet fitness is filled with heavy lifters. It's huge and at the right time you can go in and find some massive men and women lifting weights. The difference is they aren't making it a point to show off. They are actually there to work out.
It is cheap. Where as most gyms (at least where I live) are $40-$50 a month for something the size of my office with far less things to use. They aren't judgemental. They are very nice to everyone and even walk around and help people who are lifting.
Wow.....just wow.
They aren't judgemental....Lulz. Have you seen their business model?
If PF's business model wasn't to caricaturize the fitness enthusiast and capitalize on the stigma that the gym is full of "Judgment" (when it's not) by selling their "judgment free zone" (when it's not...oh the irony) they would catch far less flack on boards such as these, and really just be another 24/7. You know what they say about publicity though, right? They're getting their publicity and that's what they want.
This is worth linking to again.
http://milkandcookies.com/link/2675920 -
kellyann2001 wrote: »Its a business. They need to make money to stay open and pay overhead and grow.
Right, but not all methods for making money are ethical. That's the problem that critics have with PF.0 -
kellyann2001 wrote: »Its a business. They need to make money to stay open and pay overhead and grow.
Right, but not all methods for making money are ethical. That's the problem that critics have with PF.
How are their methods unethical?
0 -
LifeInTheBikeLane wrote: »Have you ever been into a planet fitness? It's not a bad gym. My local planet fitness is filled with heavy lifters. It's huge and at the right time you can go in and find some massive men and women lifting weights. The difference is they aren't making it a point to show off. They are actually there to work out.
It is cheap. Where as most gyms (at least where I live) are $40-$50 a month for something the size of my office with far less things to use. They aren't judgemental. They are very nice to everyone and even walk around and help people who are lifting.
Wow.....just wow.
They aren't judgemental....Lulz. Have you seen their business model?
If PF's business model wasn't to caricaturize the fitness enthusiast and capitalize on the stigma that the gym is full of "Judgment" (when it's not) by selling their "judgment free zone" (when it's not...oh the irony) they would catch far less flack on boards such as these, and really just be another 24/7. You know what they say about publicity though, right? They're getting their publicity and that's what they want.
This is worth linking to again.
http://milkandcookies.com/link/267592
Wow, was she a puppet or what?
"All the animals can be in their cage".....wows.
You can always rely on the daily show for that indepth, hard hitting reporting.
SQ, WTF was the traffic light on the wall for?0 -
I'd bet the number is sub 5%.
That is why the don't want bodybuilders or "Lunks" joining. They target their advertisement to the type of person who will join and not show up. The low price is also factored in to likelihood of attendance. Most people don't feel compelled to use their membership if it is only a waste of $10. A higher price would bring in more money but more people would actually be showing up. Their business plan is a delicate balance of getting the most members to join without having to expand the size or number of facilities.
Well, entering a new market the plan is to add a lot of facilities, but essentially... yes, what you wrote out is the strategy, and it's a good one.
MAximize membership while minimizing actual facilities wear and tear costs by ensuring the cost is so low that no one goes.
Essentially the members who are absent are paying for the members who do go.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 393 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 938 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions