FIT FUSION’S THREE WAYS TO 100 UNITS

“We’re not replacing the ship,” Goodsell says; instead, Fit Fusion is accelerating the journey.

The financial logic is arbitrage, Goodsell explains. Rather than pressing an operator to relinquish equity, Fit Fusion structures a deal that lets the partner enter the market alongside it and take advantage of a stronger multiple, one earned by a portfolio with roughly 100 territories and a long runway. The arbitrage itself stays on the table as part of the negotiation.

The partner also gets scale. Fit Fusion invested early in workflow automations that take much of the HR and payroll work off of general managers, so they can focus on members.

Goodsell says joint venture partners typically see membership grow 40% to 60% within 12 months.

One club that had only around 4,000 members after nine years reached 6,000 in its first year with Fit Fusion, a lift Goodsell credits mostly to marketing and operations working in lockstep.

None of those changes moves the needle much on its own. “You incrementally compound them month over month,” Goodsell says, “and eventually you’re looking at an entirely different business structure by the end of the 12-month, 24-month run.”

The First 120 Days

Goodsell says partnerships come down to people. Fit Fusion has a simple screen: It won’t partner with jerks.

“I’m in the business of serving communities,” he says. “I’m in the business of building relationships.”

He spends 90 to 120 days before a deal closes laying out a vision and what he calls “the bulls-eye,” then another 90 to 120 days after confirming it.

Months six through 12 are about building trust.

“If life went according to spreadsheets, none of us would have to do that,” he says.

A straight acquisition runs on the same calendar. The only difference is that one group, the partner, is gone, so the work shifts to regional managers, general managers, and department heads.

Goodsell started as a general manager in south Mississippi in 2012 and has sat on every side of these deals since. The goal, he says, is never to undo what a successful operator built.

Minnesota is the latest test. Fit Fusion recently onboarded legacy clubs in Maple Grove and Plymouth through a joint venture. Together they serve about 8,500 members. Goodsell says the first meeting there ended with enthusiasm because he was upfront about the plan.

The Importance of Culture

Spreading across nine states instead of clustering in one region brings its own challenges. The biggest, Goodsell says, is culture creation and integrating into each community properly.

Fit Fusion assigns teams to that work. Its team for new club openings connects with the local chamber of commerce before a club opens, says Tiffany Levine, marketing and communications manager, and a corporate partnerships team sets up member discounts with employers and school districts.

Levine credits the team’s Crunch roots with keeping the brand consistent. Alongside CEO Robert McCormack, it includes Jen Renfro, who helped create the brand’s original group classes at Crunch corporate.

Goodsell adds that he never uses the word “employee.” “The fitness industry is a team sport,” he says.

Testing the Next Big Thing

Fit Fusion’s $5 million, 37,000-square-foot club in Fort Walton Beach, FL, set to open in early 2027, will be one of the first to feature Crunch’s new Pump Strength Training Studio, a dedicated room for coach-led, progressive strength training with integrated digital guidance.

Goodsell compares it to a college weight room run as a class, with a strength coach leading.

He admits it’s an experiment.

“This is going to be something so far out of the box that, quite frankly, I have no idea what it’s going to do,” he says. “I’m genuinely excited and intrigued.”

He believes that a coach will make a big difference in outcomes and retention. He says that since Tom Brady doesn’t work out without a coach, anyone should benefit.

A big trend tends to reshape the industry every 10 years, he says, and smaller shifts arrive every two to three. The only questions are which will stick and whether you can take part.

Twelve years ago, he says, Crunch franchisees couldn’t agree that HIIT was a good idea.

Today it’s a pillar of the brand.

Whatever sticks, Goodsell figures. With many Crunch locations now taking up Pilates, he understands that in the fitness industry, change is guaranteed. Growth is not.