Latest news
PureGym plans to retire the Pure Fitness brand, Clive Chesser tells HCM
PureGym is intending to rebrand all of its US gyms as PureGym, rather than continuing to use the Pure Fitness brand it developed for its US launch, reveals CEO Clive Chesser in the latest edition of HCM.
Chesser, says all 57 Blink Fitness sites in New York and New Jersey, which were recently acquired from Equinox, will also. be rebranded as PureGym, as will its existing three gyms in Washington which have traded as Pure Fitness since their launch in 2022 as a test of the high value, low cost concept.
“We intend to rebrand the three Washington DC clubs from Pure Fitness to PureGym,” says Chesser. “Previously it was felt that ‘fitness’ had more inclusive connotations in the US than ‘gym’, but the market has evolved and we believe we’re best served by operating as one brand across all our markets.
“We are already PureGym in the UK, Denmark, Switzerland and the Middle East. The rebrand of our Pure Fitness clubs should be fairly seamless. But we mustn’t underestimate the challenge of building a new brand in the highly brand-focused market of New York.
“For the Blink Fitness clubs we’ve acquired, we’ll first assimilate our learnings and only then commence our investment programme. The physical rebrand will likely take place in the latter part of 2025, but it will require a lot of thought.
“We’re very proud of the PureGym brand, but we need to ensure we launch it intelligently and that our whole proposition is very clear in the market. We’ll take our time to do that properly.”
Having moved across from the hospitality industry, where he was CEO of Punch Taverns, Chesser also talks about the opportunities the health and fitness sector offers and expansion plans, including going into high street and low density locations, as well as more international expansion.
You can read the full interview in the latest HCM, as well as a deep dive into what the sector can learn from the hospitality sector, given that so many high-ranking executives are moving across to the fitness sector. Sign up here for your free digital subscription here.
Latest news
