“I got the master franchise for Romania for five years. The first gym will open in March 2022,” Viman says.
Clever Fit was the second largest actor in Europe by network size and fourth largest by number of members (about 1 million) in 2019, its website says. German-held Clever Fit continued development despite the pandemic and grew to more than 500 gyms, 60 of which inaugurated in 2021.
“I will open the first gym in Bucharest in 2022. Next year, I will inaugurate four gyms, three in Bucharest and one in Timisoara and then continue at a rate of three to five gyms a year. I will open the first gyms myself but am looking for development partners, as well.”
A gym has 1,500 members on average in Germany once it reaches maturity but may go to as much as 2,500 in big cities. It would be too early to say how these numbers will go in Romania, as the first gym needs to open first and see how they do, he added.
“Gym membership prices in Germany are lower than in Romania. They are dictated by competition (much fiercer in the West). We have not yet decided on prices.”
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)