Crunch Unveils Upscale Gym Concept, Eyes Expansion

With Crunch Select, the low-price gym giant keeps its affordable format unchanged while building out a separate premium one — it could be an early look at how other HVLP players adapt to a crowded market

Crunch has a plan for the K-shaped economy that’s taking over fitness: be on both sides of it.

The high-value, low-price (HVLP) fitness chain — which was majority-acquired by Leonard Green & Partners last year — is set to launch the next iteration of Crunch Select, which it describes as an “upscale” franchise concept.

The first new Crunch Select gym will make its debut later this year in Long Beach, an oceanfront city on Long Island in New York, bringing studio spaces, expanded recovery offerings, towel service and advanced class booking to more than 60 hours of group fitness classes each week. Crunch has its sights set on new Select markets beyond New York.

The Long Beach club offers three membership tiers, all listed as founding rates. One Crunch, at $65 a month, covers access to the single club. More Crunch, at $85, includes every Crunch Fitness and Crunch Select location worldwide. All Crunch, at $127 a month — typically $159 — adds the Signature tier and full worldwide access.

The More Crunch and All Crunch tiers include infrared salt sauna, a cold therapy room, a red light infrared sauna, dry cold plunge, massage chairs and a HydroMassage lounge, alongside the Mind x Body studio and Sweat Shed for small group workouts in an immersive setting. Personal training is available as an add-on across all three tiers.

“Crunch Select brings together the best of what the fitness world has to offer — an elevated, high-end fitness environment, while maintaining the energy, group fitness community and ‘No Limits’ approach that have made Crunch unique for more than 35 years,” said Chequan Lewis, Crunch’s newly appointed CEO.

The reimagined Select pushes Crunch into new territory. The brand already reaches upscale through its Signature locations — more than 25 corporate-owned clubs spanning major markets including San Francisco, Los Angeles, D.C., Miami and the New York metro area, with saunas, steam rooms, towel service and amenities that vary by location.

It’s unclear whether the reimagined Select signals a shift for the Signature tier, or how the two premium formats will coexist. Crunch didn’t detail Signature’s future in its announcement.

In an interview with Athletech News earlier this summer, Lewis indicated that Crunch would stay opportunistic about its Signature clubs and continue to “reinvest” in the concept.

“They continue to do really well,” he said of the locations. “We continue to serve members in a really productive way, and they grow year over year. So what that invites us into — even though it’s not the same as our core franchise model, these deep urban plays where we still directly own and operate — is that there seems to still be a market for that as well.”

Will Rivals Follow Crunch’s Lead?

What’s notable is the direction Crunch is moving. Reaching upwards from an HVLP position is a move few (if any) operators have made, but there is one cautionary tale from an upscape operator reaching down. Equinox Group, the luxury operator that owns Equinox, SoulCycle and Pure Yoga, once owned budget-friendly Blink Fitness. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was acquired by PureGym in a $121 million deal.

Fitness International is being squeezed from the other direction. The parent of mid-market giant LA Fitness has been closing locations nationwide as it builds out Club Studio, an upscale concept.