Snap Fitness prepping for wider presence in India

US-headquartered health and fitness chain Snap Fitness, which entered the Indian market in 2008 with a centre in Bengaluru, is looking to expand its India footprint to 300 centres in three years.

Snap Fitness, which claims to be among the first to offer 24/7 access to members, along with nutrition and diet counselling, currently operates 60 fitness centres across 11 cities nationwide. It has centres in three formats — 3,000 sq ft, 4,000 sq ft and 5,000 sq ft, and has a user base of 60,000 members.

The chain has introduced two-fitness related products — the International Access Card, which gives members access to any of the 2,500 Snap Fitness centres located in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Mexico and Egypt; and Myzone, a wi-fi enabled area in the centres that allows members to track their workouts and monitor their heart rates via devices.

A free Myzone app allows members to stream and review the activity results from a smartphone, anywhere.

“India was the first country I entered into outside of the US in 2008,” said Peter Taunton, Global CEO and President, Snap Fitness. “While we are growing at a steady pace, we could grow much faster if entrepreneurs who want to be our business partners have access to loans from large banking institutions at fair interest rates.”

It costs ₹1.6 crore to set up a Snap Fitness centre, he explained. “The entrepreneur has to contribute 30 per cent, the rest of the capital has to be raised from banks or other financing institutions, which is not forthcoming,” he added.

In sharp contrast to the situation in India, Australia/NewZealand, a market that the company entered three years after India, already has 230 centres, he pointed out.

The $2-billion fitness and wellness market in India, which is dominated by weight loss and beauty treatment services, is growing at a healthy clip of 25-30, fuelled by rising income levels and changing lifestyles, said Dr Vikram BM, owner of Force Fitness Pvt Ltd, which holds the master franchise for Snap Fitness in India.

Sbarro hopeful of expanding their India footprint to 50 outlets by mid-2016

Sbarro, chain of Pizza restaurants popular for New York style Pizza internationally, has plans to expand their footprint from the current 15 outlets to more than 50 by middle of next year. Sbarro has opened their 15th outlet last week in Bandra in Mumbai. The international chain based in Columbus, Ohio in the US has three regional franchisees in India for North & East, West and Southern region. 

The international restaurant chain which currently has 1,000 odd stores in 44 countries is keen to expand their network in Asia in general, South East Asia in particular, and the Pacific region. Naresh Vinod Worlikar, Vice President -International Franchise Operations-Asia, Sbarro said that the focus currently is in establishing presence in countries like Malaysia, Myanmar, China, Korea, Australia, etc. Terming India as a potential market for Sbarro, Worlikar said that they are hopeful of adding 15 to 20 new outlets in India by the end of this year. 

As part of their expansion and maintaining the standards, Sbarro will be soon launching Training Centres, one each in a Franchisee region, in India. Worlikar said that one of the operational outlet will be designated as a Training Centre and people will be imparted six to eight weeks training at these centres. Currently, Sbarro has training facilities in the US and Philippines. 

Disclosing the business model, Worlikar said that Sbarro works with Master Franchisees in international markets. These franchisees could be for a country or for multiple countries, or for regions within a country. “These franchisees have the right to develop stores under their corporation or appoint sub-franchisees ,” he said.

Talking about the freedom to localize the recipes, Philippe Jore, Vice President – International Training & Culinary, Sbarro said that while formulations remained the same internationally, localization is permitted in terms of Pepperoni and use of flavours. “In India, considering the market sentiments, Chicken is used in place of Pork or Beef,” he said. “The differentiator for Sbarro is the fresh dough, fresh sauces, and 100% real mozzarella cheese. We are the only international Pizza brand which offer Pizza by Slice. Customer can order a full pizza or in slices,” he said.