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The business has survived by operating more like a series of boutique gyms rather than a massive complex, one that contains “little communities” focussed on specific sports or activities.
‘Fitspo generation’ provides growth
Just as it always has, the fitness industry still caters to the traditional 18-to-39-year-old demographic, according to Bill Moore.
He pointed to the influence of the “fitspo generation” for leading the recent market growth for fitness and exercise services in Australia.
“That’s the Instagram generation of selfies and the celebrities out there with enormous followings,” he said.
“[Gyms] do still seem to cater to that youthful market – the fitspo generation really has a lot more people interested in the physicality of exercise.”
It’s a message that has seeped through to well established businesses.
Hiscoes uses its social media presence to appeal to a new generation of gymgoers.
“We use our social media guru to tell us when those key words are trending the strongest, then we go out with our flyer.
“We’re right in the middle of the advertising world here, and we need to look up to par for those millennials.”
Whether this will continue to drive growth remains to be seen.
Ms Kingsmill said she still expects plenty of volatility ahead, with plenty of churn in the boutique end of the market as some small businesses succeed and others fail.
But she said Hiscoes is banking on one aspect of its business to help see it through.
“The fitness industry had always been about people and passion,” Ms Kingsmill said.
“The one thing that sets our people apart from other gyms I’ve been in is they’re actually real people – they drink beer and they eat pizza, and they often tell you they don’t like exercise.”
The business has survived by operating more like a series of boutique gyms rather than a massive complex, one that contains “little communities” focussed on specific sports or activities.
“Our focus is very much on teaching people to do stuff that they’ve not done before or think they’re not very good at.”
