Making the leap from one successful location to a multi-unit operation often involves struggles with brand dilution, operational inconsistencies, and a loss of the original club’s unique culture. Fitness Formula Clubs (FFC) Founder and CEO Gale Landers provides a powerful blueprint for how to navigate this expansion successfully, having built a thriving mini-chain in one of the nation’s most competitive markets.

At the request of Health & Fitness Business and with permission from Landers, Virtuoso CEO BJ Kito used data from the consultancy’s proprietary Krakin platform to evaluate FFC’s performance. The assessment revealed that FFC’s success stems from a clear, disciplined strategy that tackles common growth challenges head-on. Here are a few ways Landers and his team successfully scaled the brand.

They repositioned the brand: According to Kito, FFC’s foundation is a deliberate move away from being just a “gym.” Instead, they are classified as an “integrated health and wellness center,” a holistic model that combines core fitness with personal care, physical therapy, and nutritional support.

“This strategic positioning immediately differentiates them and expands their revenue streams beyond simple membership dues,” notes Kito.

They leaned into local advantages: A key to FFC’s triumph is its embrace of a “hyper-local premium” identity. While competitors like Equinox and Life Time focus on a national luxury brand, FFC has turned its geographic concentration in Chicago into a core strength, cultivating a strong local identity and community-focused feel.

This strategy creates a powerful “defensive moat” against larger national brands and fosters deep member loyalty. Market perception data confirms this success, with customers viewing FFC as the “gold standard for a neighborhood club in Chicago,” striking a perfect balance between high-end amenities and a welcoming, unpretentious atmosphere.

They developed a scalable infrastructure: “To avoid the operational chaos of expansion, FFC built a scalable infrastructure,” Kito says. “For example, the McKinsey 7-S framework analysis shows a structure with a corporate headquarters overseeing individual club managers, which allows for standardized quality while empowering local community-building.

“This is supported by integrated systems for member management and billing. Their growth has not been haphazard but has followed a clear plan: first, penetrating their existing market and developing new products like wellness services, and then leveraging that strong brand equity to expand into new, underserved affluent neighborhoods and suburbs.”

By systematizing their “secret sauce” of integrated wellness within a strong community framework, FFC has not only survived but is projected to grow its market share, according to Kito. Their journey demonstrates that successful expansion requires shifting from simply operating a club to strategically building a scalable, consistent, and deeply understood brand.