Revenue at fitness clubs nationwide spans beyond membership dues to include retail opportunities. From smoothie and juice bars to fitness clothing and accessories, club owners are looking for new products and services to provide to their members while increasing sales.
Years ago, when Fitness Facility Designer and Brand Strategist Cuoco Black first started designing gyms, one of his first client’s retail displays involved T-shirts on clothes hangers above the reception desk and supplements in plastic tubs next to the cash register. Fast forward to today, and he is working with gyms willing to ride the new wave of gym design and branding. For example, he is now working with Powerhouse Fitness Training, which is coming to La Habra, Calif., in the third quarter of 2023.
“The gym lobby and retail displays are commensurate with anything you would find with luxury fashion brands. Yet it is gym-centric, branded and on so many levels differentiated from competitors in his marketplace,” he says.
Black also helped Mid City Gym in New York City to raise the bar in the design of their retail offerings.
“We created sci-fi inspired luxury boutique displays and merchandising systems, like the window displays you might see walking past Bloomingdales in New York City,” Black says. “That was a decade ago and the owner had expanded his clothing line: bringing back retro graphics and designs on his branded clothing line, at one time obsolete, now cool and in high demand.”
To capture retail sales, clubs should consider making the effort to seduce the customer to buy into their brand with innovative retail offerings and smart and contemporary display systems, he says.
“Simply speaking, use better displays, graphics, lighting and selling language,” he says. Black is also seeing a shift to more forward-leaning retail clothing offerings beyond popular name brands. For example, smaller home-grown gym brands are reaching out to graphic designers and manufacturers to create their own branded wear.
“The boutique gyms are still doing retail displays better than the big-box gyms,” Black says.
As far as retail merchandising strategies, Black says club owners can go outside the fitness industry for inspiration for merchandising and marketing.
“We’re lagging a little behind the big players out there, but with some work, I think we could really impress club members with new innovative retail merchandising strategies,” he says.
Beyond retail offerings like clothing and accessories, fitness clubs are also selling smoothies, juices and nutritious snacks to their members to help fuel their workouts and aid in recovery and hydration. Some clubs are discovering success with in-club smoothie cafes and juice bars, while others are taking a different approach. Case in point: one developer plans to feature a complete grab-and-go section in its lobby complete with sandwiches, protein bars and beverages.
“I’m seeing some gym owners opting out of the whole juice bar set-up and going with commercially available beverages, protein drinks and attractive water bottles,” Black says. “There’s no blender, no messy powders, less inventory, clean-up and ordering.”
By embracing retail opportunities in the fitness industry, health club owners can meet their customers’ needs while cultivating a new revenue stream for their club.