• Brandweek, Monday, January 26, 2009 11:15 AM

Snap Fitness CEO/founder Peter Taunton is a full-service fitness club veteran who discovered a new formula for success: 2,500-3,500 square-foot gyms with state-of-the art cardio and strength equipment for $34.95 per-month and no long-term commitment. In four years, he has turned the concept into more than 1,700 stores in strip malls and other locations and the franchise is opening more than one unit a day.

"My 'aha moment' was when I put one in a town of 3,200 people," says Taunton. "It performed every bit as well as my metro market club did," Taunton said, acknowledging that small-market costs help the bottom line. At roughly one-tenth the size and cost of a mega fitness center, a Snap location needs as few as 250 members to turn a profit, writes Becky Ebenkamp. The locations are within two miles of 90% of members' homes.

The secret to success? "Give people a good product and put it in their backyard," Taunton says -- and watch your overhead.

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