Fitness Icon Marks 35th Anniversary with Another Record Year

Toned Bottom Line in Third Decade of Business Proves No Sweat for Jazzercise, Inc.

CARLSBAD, CA (Thursday, November 04, 2004) - The numbers are in on Jazzercise’s 35 th birthday, and they are demonstrating that a classic only gets better with age. The privately held company today released 2004 financials that show more than a four percent increase over last year’s record, with $70 million in systemwide sales and gross revenues of nearly $20 million. Taken from the fiscal year ending in June, the numbers mark the third consecutive record year for the fitness icon, even among an industry-wide decline in aerobics participation.

Continued success in the third decade of business can be attributed in large part to the vision of founder and CEO Judi Sheppard Missett. Since opening the doors to the first Jazzercise class in a Chicago dance studio in 1969, Missett has expanded her original one-woman operation into a 30-country fitness empire through extensive franchising and a diversified offering.

Apart from the 3,200 worldwide locations offering 20,000 classes each week, today’s Jazzercise has grown to include 10 class formats, a line of branded fitness apparel and an award-winning video and multimedia production company. And according to Missett, the business shows no sign of slowing down.

“We’ve always been operating in a highly competitive industry, but our 35 years of continued success seems to demonstrate we’ve created a fitness program that delivers results and that truly helps people have fun while achieving their goals,” Missett says. “Apart from regularly updating the choreography, we’re also continuously finding new ways to refresh the program to meet our customers’ needs. In the past five years we’ve expanded our line of fitness DVDs, incorporated fun, new twists into the national conventions and continued to train instructors to provide cutting edge fitness. I think we’ve proven that we’re able keep people motivated and maintain our position as the dance-fitness leader, so I’m looking forward to celebrating our 40 th anniversary with similar growth.”

If the past five years are any indicator, Missett’s prediction will hold true. Growth in 2004 continued the company’s average annual rate for the past five years of more than 5 percent. In the past year alone, the ranks of instructors grew to 6,000, up 3 percent from last year’s figures. Jazzercise also saw a 5 percent increase in the number of participants enrolled in The Easy Fitness Ticket, a monthly debit payment system offering unlimited classes to regular attendees, bringing the total students on the EFT plan to 90,000.

Looking ahead to 2005, Missett says Jazzercise will continue to reach out to participants of all ages, with a particular focus on the younger and older markets. The company also has a significant charitable event scheduled in the upcoming year with the goal of raising more than $1 million dollars for the arts and breast cancer research. The Art & Soul Tour, a pledge-driven, multi-city Jazzercise marathon, is expected to advance the more than $25 million Jazzercise has raised for a wide range of charities throughout its 35 years. Other large-scale events in 2005, including On Location Palm Springs and On Location West Palm Beach, weekend conventions and tapings of the latest routines, are expected to continue the sold-out trend led by several Jazzercise conventions held this past year.

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Jazzercise, created by Judi Sheppard Missett, is the world's leading dance-fitness program with more than 6,300 instructors teaching 20,000 classes weekly in the U.S. and around the globe. Since 1969, millions of people of all ages and fitness levels have reaped the benefits of this comprehensive program, designed to enhance cardiovascular endurance, strength, and flexibility. For more information, go to jazzercise.com or call 1(800)FIT-IS-IT.

For More Infromation Please contact:
Denice Menard
Phone: (760) 602-7153
Email: dmenard@jazzercise.com

View all Jazzercise Press Releases

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