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the launch of the first club. “Group exercise is our passion,” she says.


“We’ve both been instructing classes for over 25 years and have formal training to back it up – I’m a physiotherapist and Päivi is an occupational therapist, so we know what works and how to get results. We also want to be at the forefront of trends. We’re still the only operator in Finland to offer all 10 Les Mills programmes.” A look at the weekly menu of classes


reveals that each GoGo also offers TRX, circuits, group cycling, dance-based classes and pilates – as well as age- specific classes ranging from sessions for parents with babies and toddlers through to sessions for people aged 70+. It is a truly impressive assortment. The ethos of the full-service GoGo


Liikuntakeskus is to build a community around the selection of group classes.


“We describe our target market as consisting of normal people who merely want to keep fit – and have fun while doing so,” Vähätalo says. “We want people to come to us and feel at home and make friends through the classes they attend. We want them to feel that they are cared for and ensure they achieve the results they want.”


GOING BUDGET


With this in mind, the pair’s decision to branch out and open a budget club concept might at first seem a bit odd. Not so, however, when Vähätalo reveals the motivation behind the move: to beat any potential competition to market. “We came across the McFit concept in


2005 while visiting Germany. We looked at it and our first impression was ‘oh no, imagine if this comes to Finland!’ After a bit of reflection, however, we realised that it would probably only be a matter of time until somebody did open a budget offering, so we decided that it would be better to do it ourselves first.”


40


GoGo’s budget clubs have a customer profile that is 70 per cent male,


while 70 per cent of class attendees at the full-service clubs are female


It took nearly three years until


Vähätalo and Aholaita-Mäenpää found a suitable site for the first GoGo Express in the Tampere district of Lielahti. Opening hours for the 1,000sq m club were set from 6.00am–10.00pm and the price point at €18 a month. Unlike at the larger, full service sites, exercise classes were reduced to a minimum. The only group element at the Express sites are the virtual group cycling classes that use Star Trac kit and an automated DVD. Express sites are manned with just one member of staff at all times. Vähätalo admits that, prior to the


launch, she was worried they might be creating a cheaper alternative to their existing full service product and as a result lose members. Those fears were unfounded – a statement that can be confirmed by looking at the Express membership demography compared to that of the full-service clubs. “Around 70 per cent of our GoGo Express members are male,” she says. “These are guys who are happy to come in, do their thing and then leave. When you compare that with the composition of our group classes in the full-service clubs – where 70 per cent are women – you can see that the two products complement each other rather well.” The success of the Express concept


has led to a further two GoGo Express sites being launched – one facility in 2010 (also in Tampere) and another in late 2011 (in the city of Jyväskylä). Not only do these Express sites not pull members away from the full-service clubs as Vähätalo initially feared, but in fact they often act as ‘feeders’ to their larger sister facilities.


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“What we do is that, after a certain


period, we offer all GoGo Express members a taster offer – say a week’s free membership – at the full-service club. We found that setting our budget membership at €18 considerably lowers the threshold for many to come and try the product out. After making that initial commitment to exercise regularly, we’ve then seen that many are prepared to upgrade to the full- service clubs if offered the opportunity.” Conversion is also helped by the fact


that, at €55 a month, the full-service GoGo Liikuntakeskus membership is still cheaper than many competitors: a quick web search reveals that the two Elixia clubs in Tampere offer off-peak memberships at €60 a month, while the cheapest full monthly membership option is €69 – if you’re prepared to sign up for two years.


FUTURE


The GoGo Express club in Jyväskylä was the company’s first outside the city of Tampere, where the sisters have lived most of their lives. Vähätalo hasn’t ruled out entry into the Finnish capital Helsinki, where the market is much more saturated, but says the next club will be a second GoGo Express in Jyväskylä. “We’ve just opened two new sites,


so apart from the planned Jyväskylä opening, it’s a case of waiting to see how the market develops,” she says. “The main future plan is to see whether my two daughters are interested in joining me in the business. They’re 25 and 23 years old and the eldest is already a club manager at one site. I’ve told them they’ve got another three years to decide whether they want to commit to a career within GoGo, and I hope they do. It would free up my time to seek new sites more actively.”


healthclub@leisuremedia.com tom walker


april 2012 © cybertrek 2012


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