Koko FitClub’s Growth Spurred On by Multi-Unit Owners

KoKo FitClub owners have moved forward with multiple locations in Louisiana, Ontario, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Michigan, Texas, Massachusetts, Washington and Idaho.

Debbie Denova-Baker and husband Paul Baker opened their second Koko FitClub in Thibodaux, Louisiana in August, close on the heels of their February club opening in nearby Houma. The KoKo FitClub in Houma quickly had the town buzzing and according to Denova-Baker, it has become \"the thing to do\" in Houma. Even with that amazing reception from the town of Houma, she says the response to their second location in Thibodaux has been \"even better than the first.\"

Thibodaux is only twenty minutes from Houma. \"Since our clubs are close to one another,\" explains Denova-Baker, \"staff from both locations are one big team. They are a bigger, enthusiastic presence in the area and it gives us wonderful, strategic visibility.\" She also describes how the grassroots marketing and hard work creating awareness around the first club opening carried over easily to the second, as did the training and best practices that have been so critical to their success in Houma. \"We didn’t have to do much paid advertising this time and we don’t have to explain to prospective members that we are different from a gym. They have heard from their friends in Houma about Koko FitClub and how much they love it. They were waiting for us! We signed up 50 members in the first five days we were open.\"

In December 2010, Entrepreneur Magazine will list KoKo FitClub as a \"Hot Franchise Trend for 2011.\" Koko FitClub Co-Founder Mike Lannon says of the accolade, \"We’re flattered, but Koko isn’t just a trend, it’s a full-fledged fitness movement. Business is booming. Since the first Koko FitClub opened on Boston’s South Shore in 2008, amid a brutal recession economy, the number of open Koko FitClubs has grown 2500%.\" Locations now exist from coast to coast and into Canada, nearly 130 development units have been sold, and there are no signs of slowing down. Mike agrees with wife Mary Obana’s assessment, \"Koko FitClub, thanks to our franchise owners nationwide, is actively fulfilling our mission to change lives, and well on the way to reaching our goal of being the way the world gets- and stays- healthy. What we once envisioned as the incredible potential for this company, is now the reality. And we’re just getting started.\"

The unbeatable business edge for the franchise is the proprietary nucleus that powers the entire fitness experience at Koko FitClub: The Koko Smartraining System. A marriage of futuristic technology, born in collaboration with the founding director of MIT’s Center for Sports Innovation, and world-class workout programs designed by the elite trainers who keep gorgeous Hollywood stars ultra-fit. It’s powerful technology found nowhere else. And it gives people a simple, more enjoyable and more effective way to exercise. Lannon points out that the fast-growing Koko FitClub franchise, is in an enviable position. \"People want to be fit, they just don’t know how to get there or they don’t have the luxury of time to stay that way. Koko’s breakthrough technological innovation is the solution. It will turn the tide against the biggest health threat to this country: a sedentary lifestyle.\"

The Smartraining System combines Koko’s patented fitness equipment and proprietary exercise personalization technology, which develops custom fitness plans for every KoKo FitClub member. Once a member’s custom strength or cardio plan is created, based upon his personal goals, the Smartraining System guides and coaches him through every workout: different everyday and adaptable in real-time. The Smartraining System dynamically adapts to his progress with a precision possible only through Smartraining technology. Koko FitClub Chief Fitness Officer, Michael Wood, CSCS, says, \"Human personal trainers simply can’t begin to manage all the variables or track progress with the ease and precision we can through Smartraining technology.\"

Results speak for themselves. The Smartraining System automatically tracks incredible amounts of data on member progress. One of the most amazing data points Smartraining technology can analyze is strength gain. No other strength equipment has this capability. Across thousands of users, members who use the Smartrainer 2-3x/week see an average strength gain of 19% after their first (8 week) program, 25% after their second program and 33% after their third program. Wood elaborates, \"I look at those results from an exercise physiologist’s perspective- in traditional strength training, a 10% strength gain is considered excellent. These numbers are out of the park.\"

When it comes to improvements in body composition and inches lost, our research shows that Koko gets results that are as good, and often better than personal training, in only half the time. Koko results are on par with those of the best personal trainers in the country. KoKo FitClub member Don Birdwell says, \"I recently resigned from the Y because of what I am accomplishing at Koko. I have lost 16 pounds in my first 5 weeks. A lifelong athlete, I have never trained so intensely other than when I have paid $75 per hour for a trainer.\"