The fitness industry continues to gain strength in the wake of the pandemic, with several gyms expanding in the Houston area.
And beyond the addition of new fitness locations here, the renewed interest in fitness appears to be backed by location data, according to a report released last month by a California-based location analytics company.
Placer.ai, which uses anonymous location data from mobile devices to estimate overall visits to a location, estimated that visits nationwide to gyms and health clubs were up 30 percent in January compared with January 2022, and that visits to gyms this year continue to exceed that of last year. Visits to gyms and health clubs in May exceeded May of last year by 8 percent, according to Placer.ai.
Placer.ai used location data at most national and regional chains to be representative of the fitness industry, a company spokesperson said in an email.
While some of that increase in January might be due to COVID-19 tamping down visits in early 2022, according to the company, the data suggests consumers are returning to fitness regimens that had been interrupted by the pandemic.
Placer.ai named the fitness industry as one of 2022’s top industries in its annual overview of industries, and visits in 2022 to fitness locations were up 29 percent compared with visits in 2021 and up 15 percent compared with 2019 nationally.
2022: Gold’s Gym returns to Houston with new look
The Houston region is seeing growth with some brands opening new locations in the area. Pilates-inspired Solidcore, based in Washington, D.C., opened a location in Rice Village in February as part of the company’s goal to add about 25 studios in 2023 and more than 250 studios over the next three to five years globally, according to a May company statement. Mayweather Boxing and Fitness, co-founded by retired boxer Floyd Mayweather, opened a fifth area location in the Heights in May.
EoS Fitness acquired fitness locations in the region to meet its goal of opening 50 gyms in the next five years in Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The company moved its headquarters to Dallas in anticipation of its rapid growth in Texas, the company said in an April statement.
WORK OUT: Houston’s top fitness pros to boost your workout routine in 2022
Rumble Boxing, owned by California-based Xponential Fitness, is targeting gym openings in Katy and Sugar Land in fall 2023 and in the Heights in 2024, according to a company statement. The company has sold 19 licenses in Texas with six studios opened.
The company is seeing an increase in visits across its studios and attributed the increase to more people devoting time to health and wellness, Vice President of Sales Vince Pacleb said, “especially as people are defining ‘wellness’ in broader terms since the pandemic with a bigger focus on the mental benefits of fun, energetic workout experiences like Rumble.”
Pacleb said the company sizes up markets for expansion based on factors like consumer demand, the potential for franchisees, demographics and real estate. The company offers classes at multiple skill levels and goals to encourage people to try out and stick with Rumble, Pacleb said.
link