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interface news reporter | tan siyue

interface news editor | lou qiqin

recently, the british gym chain the gym group announced its first half results.the performance report shows that the companyrevenues for the first half of 2024 are £112 million(about 1.131 billion yuan),year-on-year growthlong12%；pre-tax profit was £200,000, compared with a loss of £6.1 million in the same period last year.it is worth mentioning that this isThe Gym Groupsincethis is the first time the company has turned a profit since 2019.

The Gym Groupthe report also analyzes the reasons for the company's profitability.the gym group has invested £2.2 million in upgrading the gym's facilities and equipment.this initiative effectively increased the gym's coverage and user stickiness.The Gym Groupaccording to published data, the number of gym members currently exceeds 900,000, and the number of customers in the first half of this year is more than the same period last year.increased by 5%, the average order value has also increased.

interface news browsingThe Gym Groupthe official website found that the gym group was founded by former england squash player john treharne in 2008, and was successfully listed on the london stock exchange in 2015. it is now one of the largest fitness chain brands in the uk.the gym group, which is less than 20 years old, has grown so rapidly, largely due to its "affordable" strategy.

the company is committed to providing affordable prices for fitness members, breaking the high membership fee model of traditional fitness clubs, and providing a variety of flexible payment methods including monthly payment, daily payment and trial price, which lowers the psychological and consumption threshold for members to join. members can also start and end membership services at any time without being restricted by annual fee contracts.

carolina, who just finished five years of studying in the uk, told jiemian news: "the prices at the gym stores in different regions are slightly different, but the monthly consumption of ten to twenty pounds is about the same. when i was a student, there were educational discounts, which was even cheaper." it is with this low-price and highly flexible business model that the gym group quickly attracted a large number of users in a short period of time.

the current survival situation of large commercial gyms and affordable small and medium-sized gyms can be described as "ice and fire". on the large commercial gym side, there is an endless stream of news about store closures. in 2023, several stores of one trillion wade, one of the largest chain fitness institutions in china, announced their closures one after another. in the summer of 2024, many xiaohongshu users posted that many stores of wells fitness in shanghai were closed, and they could only go to other stores that were farther away for fitness.

industry data shows that in 2022, in mainstream cities, the average growth rate of fitness clubs was 3%, the bankruptcy rate was as high as 13.30%, and the net increase rate was negative 10.34%; the average growth rate of fitness studios was 3.52%, the bankruptcy rate was 16.01%, and the net increase rate was negative 12.48%.

even yoga studios that mainly serve female users are not immune: brahma yoga, which has more than 80 stores across the country, has not reopened since it closed for rectification in february 2023; kamo yoga, a well-known chain yoga institution established 11 years ago, also announced its closure in may this year.

on the other hand, small and medium-sized gyms are still attracting new members and expanding rapidly, and they are doing very well.The Gym Groupas a representative, domestic references include leke.The Gym Groupsimilarly, leke also takes the "small but exquisite" route.

the area of ​​leke gym is very small, generally between 200 and 300 square meters. such an area not only saves rent, but also facilitates the rapid expansion of the brand. gyms often put up signs that say "open 24 hours a day" and "applicable to stores nationwide". this feature mainly attracts office workers, students and other people who only have fragmented time to exercise, which is different from ordinary commercial gyms.

as of august 2024, leke has opened more than 1,500 stores across the country, including more than 1,300 leke fitness centers and more than 260 feelingme leke private training centers. the number of stores in beijing, shanghai, and hangzhou has exceeded 200, followed by shenzhen and nanjing with nearly 200 stores, and wuhan with more than 100 stores.

seeing leke's popularity, established fitness companies are also trying to lower their profile to attract as many users as possible. take wells fitness as an example. its gyms now support monthly payment, and consumers can even buy a monthly trial card at an ultra-low price of 99 yuan in some stores.