joining us now for more on this chris rondeau,
who is the Ceo of Planet Fitness chris, thanks
for once again joining us back here on cheddar appreciate
the time as always. These were excellent third quarter
earnings. Were you expecting to see these kind of
numbers? Yeah, he was great momentum in Q
three. Q two was was great as well.
The Q three was, it couldn't be more pleased
with it. And uh you know, when,
you know, everything was going in the right direction
, right? We had membership growth, we had
same store sales growth, um beat all the other
street on on all our guidance, so everything was
really, really going the right direction and I'm glad
the street um is responding correctly. Spotting. Right
, That's great. You know, as you look
across the competitive landscape, it's of course, come
with this backdrop of the in home fitness trend and
for Planet Fitness, you've also been able to build
up kind of your digital presence as well to really
tap into that and offering workouts elsewhere outside of the
physical locations. How critical, I guess first have
the the physical locations been too the broader reopening and
massing some of these results. And how do you
continue to kind of propel people back towards that?
I RL that in real life experiences, back on
premise. Yeah. And I think, you know
, I was saying this honestly says the pandemic started
is that home fit is really not anything new,
right? It was started with Richard Simmons and jane
fonda, then you go back to billy blanks and
P 90 X and you go on and on,
and and Home Fitness, I think we'll always be
there. Um But I think what we've seen,
and and I you never wavered from this through the
covid, is that, is that at the end
of the day, I think Home Fitness is a
great supplement, but it's not a substitute for really
true jim experience, great equipment, variety of equipment
. Um and just being around others, Right?
And I think we're seeing that and now that people
get out and go about their day is as their
normal life. I think we're now reaping the benefits
of people getting out to being normal again, and
and this is kind of what I said, it
was gonna happen, and it's finally, it's finally
great to see this happen. Um and our app
has been been great, and digital engagement is great
, and I think that will stay, but I
think what we're seeing here is people are ready to
get out and be with others, you know,
as you serve a new members. What are they
citing as a reason that they're signing up in terms
of the catalyst, perhaps that's driving them to their
membership at Planet Fitness right now. I think more
and more, what we're seeing is, you know
, there's a lot of stats around the weight gain
, 70% of adults were overweight or obese pre pandemic
. And the CDC has even said that since the
pandemic started that almost 40% of adults have gained an
average ofÂŁ29 believe that on top of the fact
that we already had an issue before Covid and then
the mental health unfortunately has been really bad. You've
seen what's happened and all the stats coming up with
about mental wellness and how important that is today getting
out being with others. And and I think what
people realizing now is fitness is not only about vanity
, right? It's not about your waistline feeling better
. It's it's really helpful with anxiety, depression helps
you sleep better. And this is all the things
that people are going through right now coming out of
Covid and the pandemic of being quarantined and And planet
is here and it's a place people can come in
at$10 a month, anybody can do it.
You know, that's a really good point. And
I wonder, you know, as you look across
so many places where people either find sources of inspiration
or on the other side of that spectrum, they
find themselves perhaps even shamed at the end of the
day or feeling low self esteem as a result of
scrolling through instagram or social media and and seeing all
of these physiques that are perhaps algorithmic lee push to
them. Um, and perhaps that pushes them in
one way or another. But how can our social
media use that? Clearly we're not stepping away from
how can that actually contribute to us wanting to make
sure that we take on and harness more of that
mental health and prioritization around physical health and the core
relation of the two as well. Yeah, I
think that's that's a good point and we're gonna see
some of our marketing here um coming out where we're
going to try to really highlight the benefits of exercise
and it's not like I said, it's not just
only waistline, that's almost like the bipartisan exercise is
the long term results of being physically fit. But
the short term of you think about this, you
know, walking into a gym, it's a chore
sometimes, right? It's four in the morning at
five in the morning or after working a long day
at work. I got to go to the gym
, but you always walk out feeling better, right
? The euphoria, the feeling of being happy and
you just accomplished something. That's what brings you back
the next day and the next day. And that's
what we want to really capture is get people to
realize and that's the instant gratification, the weight loss
will come right. It might take a couple of
months. But when you feel that sense of happiness
and that joy you feel after, I just did
that, that's what it's about and that's what gets
people coming back the next day. And I think
that's what's the most important for people to realize that
that, that you'll definitely feel better even after one
workout. You know, that's what I've always appreciated
actually about Planet Fitness is that there's a psychological approach
to welcoming new members and customers in as well.
And that you were one of the brands that had
lunk alarm. You had the free pizza Fridays of
course and everything like that. And it made the
fitness experience more approachable to say that it is a
journey and that we're not here for any type of
intimidation or jim intimidation, as you mentioned. And
as the company's marketing materials had put in the past
, I should probably disclose that. I'm planning for
this member as well when you see new members signing
up, is it for the lower tier of the
membership, Is it for the higher tier, You
know, and I only have about 20 seconds left
here. Yeah, sure. No, they always
come into the$10 membership. That's what gets you
off the couch. I mean, I can do
that, I can afford that. Let's give it
a try when they come in, they believe or
not when they see all the benefits of the black
card, the reciprocity use any club in the country
at no additional charge. Gets privileges, you can
bring a guest with you to come with you for
free, Right? So if you're intimidated, you
feel the company can bring somebody with you give you
some support, right? All the benefits drive more
people believe not to the black card membership at 22
99 which is still a great value, But you're
right. Intimidation and judgment free is so important because
walking into a place where everybody, you know,
we're in the$300 outfit to work out and then
physically, you know, like crap athletes, that's
not the norm, and that's that's just discouraging,
you know, chris we gotta leave things there on
the day, Always appreciate the time discussing with you
chris rondeau, who is the Ceo of Planet Fitness 00:05:56.589 --> , everyone.