A brand new multi-concept wellness franchise, Club W, is launching, headed up by former Fitness First boss Tony Le Deede.
The concept is aimed at attracting the 80 per cent of non-gym goers in Australia with senior citizens, particularly women, the target market for membership.
Tony Le Deede tells Inside Franchise Business “The people we will attract have never been to a class and will embrace this; all of our instructors are over-40s, it will be a place to meet friends. This is wellness for everybody, every day.”
Tony has trialled the Club W idea as a multi-activity wellness centre in Sydney’s south at Caringbah.
Club W combines three concepts in the one venue: Wellness Lounge, Wellness Collective and Wellness Coworking.
The fitness element is focused on two major activity streams, Move 123 and Mind 123. Each contains a host of activity options in bite-sized sessions designed for reluctant exercisers who are daunted by the idea of a long gym session.
“It’s all about small bites,” says Tony. “We feel for a comfortable environment 50+ (age group) is the target with movement and activity delivered in immersive rooms on screens – a yin and yang room (for breathing, meditation, stretching chi) and a cardio space, with all sessions pre-recorded.”
The 123 stands for 10, 20 and 30 minute sessions and activities include dance, cardio, yoga, Pilates, breathing, meditation, stretching and chi.
In addition to the classes at the clubs there is plenty of digital content to be accessed by members in their own time, and Tony suggests Club W may stream live classes in the future.
Quiet rooms have been introduced for one or two people to create their own personal workout space.
“You can pick your content, pick your time, pick your LED lights, pick your scent (we have a symphony of scents) and curate your own personal private workout.”
The concept includes wellness pods featuring equipment such as massage recovery chairs, infra red meditation and salt bricks.
Tony compares it to pricier hands-on spa and wellness treatments.
“Club W is tech-enhanced wellness, touchless treatments which provides a different experience, and it’s one third of the price,” he says.
Members pay a weekly fee of $19.95; it costs $32.95 for full weekly membership.
Also on site, a lounge with cafe, and with suburban co-working increasingly popular, a co-working space which includes individually-sited desks, hot desks, and two-people offices.
The franchise model suits sites of about 500m and elements can be bolted on to the basic model in larger sites.
Franchisees can expect to invest at least $400,000 in a Club W business.
Tony has plenty of fitness and wellness business experience. In addition to leading Fitness First Australia for eight years from 2000, he launched Gwinganna, the luxury lifestyle retreat near the the Gold Coast, a surf retreat, yoga and wellness resort Hotel Komune, the Fit n Fast gyms and the YogaBar.
This has been updated to correct the membership pricing from monthly to weekly.