Many customers in Russia are daunted by gyms and willing to pay for personal attention
Today the business is divided in
two: Kashirin runs Fitness System – a distribution business for brands such as GRAVITY, gym80 and Multipower – while Yusina oversees the health club operations. There are currently 15 Orange Fitness clubs and 18 City Fitness sites across 12 cities in Russia, plus Bulgaria and Armenia, with 10 of these corporately owned; the rest operate as franchises, and franchising will account for the majority of both brands’ expansion from now on. “I think it’s realistic to predict that we’ll open fi ve new clubs each year,” says Yusina. So how does this further shift towards franchising sit with Yusina’s hands-on, personal approach to the business? “Again, you have to strike the right balance. I want to grow the chain, but I want to keep manageable the number of clubs I actually own so I can still be very involved with individual members. “Also, while I want to embrace external investment, the business is still my baby and I need to make sure the partners we choose are the right people. Our franchisees must all have a passion for the fi tness industry, and part of the deal is that they have to
November/December 2012 © cybertrek 2012
We soon realised that what
prevents people in Russia from working out is not the price, but rather a lack of understanding of fi tness
manage the clubs themselves – they can’t simply view it as an investment and get someone else in to run it for them.”
Offering guidance So has the offering evolved at all since the brands fi rst launched? “We’ve done many good things and made many mistakes in the 10 years we’ve been operating. In a changing market like Russia, it feels like 30 years!” says Yusina. For starters, City Fitness originally launched at a budget price point of US$1 a day, but as Yusina explains: “It wasn’t fi nancially viable, but neither was it really right for the market: we soon realised that what prevents people in Russia from exercising is not the price, but rather a lack of understanding of fi tness. “With budget clubs, you need to know what you’re doing: you come in, work
out, leave. But in Russia, nobody knows what to do in a gym – only 4 per cent of people in Moscow work out, and 60 per cent of our customers have never used a gym before. They’re afraid of feeling alone in the gym and looking stupid. And gym equipment can be very daunting to new members. Most people are willing to pay for personal attention and advice. “Our members pay around US$60 a month at City Fitness, and around US$120 a month at Orange Fitness, but a good personal trainer will get 100 PT sessions a month. In fact, any good PT will be fully booked – our challenge is getting enough qualifi ed staff, with the right people skills.”
Medical model Another challenge, explains Yusina, are the low levels of public awareness around
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