Planet Fitness was founded in 1992, in Dover, New Hampshire. The company came to Canada in 2014, opening its first international location in Toronto, Ontario.
In the beginning, it operated much like every other gym in its small hometown and catered to the same small percentage of the population in the U.S. who worked out and belonged to a health club.
PF’s owners quickly recognized that there was a greater opportunity to serve a much larger segment of the population. They asked themselves, “Why does 80-85% of the population not belong to a gym?” The answer? First-time and casual gym users didn’t like the “look at me” attitudes and behaviors found in typical gyms, and they didn’t want to have to pay a lot of money to give fitness a try.
So they completely changed the gym environment, both in attitude and format, creating the non-intimidating, low-cost model that has revolutionized the gym industry. Planet Fitness became known as the “Judgement Free Zone®” – a welcoming and friendly community where people could feel comfortable regardless of their fitness level.
Today, Planet Fitness is one of the largest and fastest-growing franchisors and operators of fitness centers in the United States by number of members and locations. As of December 31, 2019, Planet Fitness had approximately 14.4 million members and 2,000 stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Mexico and Australia. The Company's mission is to enhance people's lives by providing a high-quality fitness experience in a welcoming, non-intimidating environment, which we call the Judgement Free Zone®. More than 95% of Planet Fitness stores are owned and operated by independent business men and women.
