AusLeisure

Collective Wellness Group (CWG), operators of the Anytime Fitness, Massage Envy and Orangetheory Fitness franchises in Australia, have revealed an expectation that they will grow to 1,000 locations over the next five years.

Operating some of America’s most recognisable health and wellness franchises in Australia, CWG co-founders Justin McDonell, Richard Peil and Dave Mortensen along with Chief Executive Arthur McColl and Chief Operating Officer Jordan Smith, have an aggressive local growth plan for their investment and management company.

The experienced McDonell, who sees ‘boutique fitness and wellness’ as the continuing growth trend in the Australian market, brought Anytime Fitness to Australia in 2008. Today, it boasts over 450 locations nationally, and over two and half million members worldwide.

With its commitment to enabling its members to ‘work out anytime, anywhere’, Anytime Fitness Australia is expected to exceed 500 locations by 2018.

Massage Envy - a unique membership-based service promoting the concept of massage and skincare as a regular part of a wellness routine, not a luxury - currently has two locations open, with a further two to open before the end of the year, in the Sydney CBD and the suburb of Balmain. In the USA, Massage Envy is the largest massage and skincare brand with 1.2 million members.

Having taken on the master franchise for Orangetheory Fitness earlier this year, CWG has sold 40 franchises will open its next studio this month in Waterloo, NSW, with more to follow in 2017

Orangetheory was developed in the USA, quickly gaining a cult following thanks to its unique method of displaying participants’ heart rate during group personal training classes, driving a competitiveness to get in the ‘orange zone’.

While each of CWG’s brands operates independently, McDonell and Peil want their company aligned in improving the holistic approach to health and wellness of Australians.

With Anytime Fitness now the largest health club brand in Australia, CWG’s next focus is to gain traction for all three brands within the billion-dollar local fitness industry.

As an industry veteran, Peil is confident in their brands, stating “the evidence of global success is clear. In all thirteen of its countries Orangetheory Fitness has never closed a studio and Massage Envy has more than a thousand doors in the US alone.

“I am continually surprised by the number and variety of great opportunities being presented to CWG with the view of taking them to the Australian market.

“With any new brand introduction, there’s a process of in-depth analysis and due diligence. We know there’s plenty of space for new brands, but we spend a lot of time scrutinising potential opportunities, firstly to ensure that we believe there is a desire by the Australian consumer, and secondly that what we bring to the market place complements, not competes, with the brands we already have within CWG.”

McDonell, a board member of Fitness Australia, is committed to the ‘The ‘Exercise is Medicine®’ trend, no longer seeing fitness as just a weight loss tool.

He adds “we’re finding more and more that exercise and accompanying recovery is essential, as is time for yourself to emotionally deal with stresses of a fast-paced life. This is why we know that Massage Envy is as valuable to members as our fitness brands. Now, we are constantly looking to find ways to care for our overall wellbeing.”

As a company dedicated to empowering people to do more than they think they can, McDonell is proud that their brands perfectly align to this.

He concludes “CWG promotes living healthy and active lifestyles, and we really want people to re-think what wellness means to them personally.

“It’s great that the brands we bring within our portfolio truly reflect and deliver upon our mission, which adds to the culture of CWG by enabling and motivating our support office team, franchisees, suppliers, and members to live well.”

Justin McDonell was featured as one of the 20 most influential people in Australian leisure management in the January/February 2017 issue of Australasian Leisure Management. 

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