Coach Me Fit Opens 3 New Facilities

Coach Me Fit, an Ann Arbor-based studio that offers private, personal fitness training, is moving into franchise operations with the opening of three locations - with more on the way.

CMF is positioning itself to become a national contender on the personal-fitness scene, and hopes to challenge national leader Fitness Together, said Brad McFarlane, vice president of franchise development for CMF. Fitness Together has 400 franchise locations worldwide.

"We're trying to be second in the national market," he said. He expects to have six more signed franchise agreements by the end of 2008, with possible locations in Troy, Northville, Plymouth, Novi and Columbus, Ohio.

The first CMF franchise opened in March in Birmingham and exceeded annual expectations in just three months, said John Bogdasarian, vice president and CFO. The goal was to log 80 hours of training a week after a year, but that was reached this month. An East Grand Rapids location opened in May. A West Bloomfield site opened June 13, Bogdasarian said.

The company has come a long way since it started in founder and President Lindsay Bogdasarian's basement in early 2001. She quickly moved to the current location at 2300 E. Stadium Blvd. Personal training is a growing trend, she said. "It's such a trend; it outweighs the additional competition." CMF was the first one-on-one fitness studio in Ann Arbor, she said.

Two Fitness Together studios followed.

CMF decided on the franchise strategy because it reflects its training philosophy, John Bogdasarian said. "It mirrors the structure we have between personal trainer and client, but it's between the corporate (office) and the franchise owner. We will teach them how to operate and run a business." While some locations will be strict franchises, others will be corporately controlled, at least for now. Franchise owners are responsible for the lease, build out and equipment purchase, while CMF supplies the branding, information technology, training, marketing and support.

Cost to launch a franchise is $150,000 to $200,000, and franchise owners are responsible for franchise and royalty fees.

Unlike big gyms, there are no membership fees, and clients pay only for the workouts they schedule.

There also are no crowds, which can be intimidating, John Bogdasarian said. "We are a boutique, higher-end facility." They conducted demographic studies, looking at average household income, when selecting their franchise sites.

While each location will set its own fees, training at the Ann Arbor studio costs between $55 and $60 an hour if purchased in packages.

Rather than marketing for quick weight loss, CMF has found a niche by incorporating fitness into client lifestyles, McFarlane said. "We're more long-term and not so much quick-fix as our competition." "Our clients are as much about fitting into their bikini as they are about wanting to get fit enough to play with their grandkids," Lindsay Bogdasarian said.

All four locations have the same design and same architect, Sun Structures of Ann Arbor.

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