Crunch Fitness operator John Freeland has taken on private equity to grow his gym franchise with a recent acquisition of another franchisee’s locations and to power further expansion. (Jack Jacobs photo)
Powered by a capital infusion from investors, John Freeland has just created a $50 million regional gym empire.
The local Crunch Fitness franchisee, through his JF Fitness of North America, last month took on a private equity haul from Trive Capital and 808 Capital Partners.
Freeland then used the funding to acquire fellow Crunch operator Team Roldan, which had eight locations spread across Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
Those locations, together with Freeland’s 16 gyms in Virginia, Maryland and the Carolinas, make for a 24-unit franchise with annual revenue of $50 million and more than 1,000 employees, Freeland said in an interview this week.
He said a desire to secure the Roldan acquisition drove him to seek investors to help land the deal and set the stage for further expansion.
“When this opportunity presented itself to expand from 16 clubs to 24 clubs, and when the company we’ve acquired has another six clubs in the works, we wanted to take advantage of it, and we knew we needed outside capital to do it,” Freeland said.
John Freeland
The Roldan deal included plans for a half-dozen new gyms by the end of 2024, with three in South Carolina, two in North Carolina and one in Florida.
The deal makes JF Fitness one of the five largest Crunch franchises, according to the company, and Freeland has plans to further bulk up the business.
His goal is to grow by eight to 10 new gyms annually over the next four years. By the end of 2028, he aims to have 60 Crunch gyms under the JF Fitness banner.
The first gyms in that expansion project are expected to open in Virginia, the Carolinas and Florida. Freeland’s franchise also has the rights to expand in Alabama, Louisiana and Georgia.
In Virginia, Freeland is planning to open a Fredericksburg location early next year and is considering an expansion into Charlottesville. He said that while there aren’t specific plans to expand in the Richmond region, he’d be open to it if the right opportunity came along.
Freeland, a developer and former president of software company SalesForce, bought his first gym, a Fitness Evolution, at 5750 Brook Road near Lakeside in 2014 and reopened it as his first Crunch location.
His other Richmond-area Crunch gyms are at 5420 Glenside Drive in the western Henrico, 10426 Ridgefield Parkway in the Gleneagles Shopping Center, 3600 W. Broad St. in Scott’s Addition and in Chesterfield Towne Center.
JF Fitness is headquartered in The Spur, a Scott’s Addition office building of which Freeland also is an owner.
“We’re proud to be a son of Richmond and to have built this business in Richmond,” Freeland said.
The investments by Texas-based Trive and Hawaii-based 808 Capital in Freeland’s franchise, as well as the Team Roldan acquisition, were announced in June. Freeland remains the majority owner of JF Fitness in the wake of the investment deal, terms of which weren’t disclosed.
While Freeland had formerly shied away from outside investment in his Crunch franchise, he said that a change in approach was key to realize his growth plans and that Trive felt like a good fit to bring into the fold.
“In the past, I had been reluctant to give up any control of the business,” Freeland said. “But we really liked Trive culturally. The chemistry with our people was really strong, and we recognized it was a matter of go big or go home.”
New York City-based Crunch has more than 460 gyms with a presence in more than 40 states and internationally. Memberships start at about $10 a month at local Crunch locations.
Crunch Fitness operator John Freeland has taken on private equity to grow his gym franchise with a recent acquisition of another franchisee’s locations and to power further expansion. (Jack Jacobs photo)
Powered by a capital infusion from investors, John Freeland has just created a $50 million regional gym empire.
The local Crunch Fitness franchisee, through his JF Fitness of North America, last month took on a private equity haul from Trive Capital and 808 Capital Partners.
Freeland then used the funding to acquire fellow Crunch operator Team Roldan, which had eight locations spread across Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
Those locations, together with Freeland’s 16 gyms in Virginia, Maryland and the Carolinas, make for a 24-unit franchise with annual revenue of $50 million and more than 1,000 employees, Freeland said in an interview this week.
He said a desire to secure the Roldan acquisition drove him to seek investors to help land the deal and set the stage for further expansion.
“When this opportunity presented itself to expand from 16 clubs to 24 clubs, and when the company we’ve acquired has another six clubs in the works, we wanted to take advantage of it, and we knew we needed outside capital to do it,” Freeland said.
John Freeland
The Roldan deal included plans for a half-dozen new gyms by the end of 2024, with three in South Carolina, two in North Carolina and one in Florida.
The deal makes JF Fitness one of the five largest Crunch franchises, according to the company, and Freeland has plans to further bulk up the business.
His goal is to grow by eight to 10 new gyms annually over the next four years. By the end of 2028, he aims to have 60 Crunch gyms under the JF Fitness banner.
The first gyms in that expansion project are expected to open in Virginia, the Carolinas and Florida. Freeland’s franchise also has the rights to expand in Alabama, Louisiana and Georgia.
In Virginia, Freeland is planning to open a Fredericksburg location early next year and is considering an expansion into Charlottesville. He said that while there aren’t specific plans to expand in the Richmond region, he’d be open to it if the right opportunity came along.
Freeland, a developer and former president of software company SalesForce, bought his first gym, a Fitness Evolution, at 5750 Brook Road near Lakeside in 2014 and reopened it as his first Crunch location.
His other Richmond-area Crunch gyms are at 5420 Glenside Drive in the western Henrico, 10426 Ridgefield Parkway in the Gleneagles Shopping Center, 3600 W. Broad St. in Scott’s Addition and in Chesterfield Towne Center.
JF Fitness is headquartered in The Spur, a Scott’s Addition office building of which Freeland also is an owner.
“We’re proud to be a son of Richmond and to have built this business in Richmond,” Freeland said.
The investments by Texas-based Trive and Hawaii-based 808 Capital in Freeland’s franchise, as well as the Team Roldan acquisition, were announced in June. Freeland remains the majority owner of JF Fitness in the wake of the investment deal, terms of which weren’t disclosed.
While Freeland had formerly shied away from outside investment in his Crunch franchise, he said that a change in approach was key to realize his growth plans and that Trive felt like a good fit to bring into the fold.
“In the past, I had been reluctant to give up any control of the business,” Freeland said. “But we really liked Trive culturally. The chemistry with our people was really strong, and we recognized it was a matter of go big or go home.”
New York City-based Crunch has more than 460 gyms with a presence in more than 40 states and internationally. Memberships start at about $10 a month at local Crunch locations.