Club 50 Fitness gearing up its franchise-sales business

Club 50 Fitness, a Reno-based company that's franchising physical training centers for the over-50 crowd, expects to see the opening of five locations across the country this month.

The new locations include one in Sparks as well as Ohio,Arizona, Florida and New York, said Mike Martin, president of Club 50 Fitness.

Already open are franchises in Las Vegas,North Carolina and Colorado.

The openings come as Club 50 ramps up its franchise sales effort.

Martin said it's hired five new associates to market its franchise program.

They're working through about 5,000 leads generated by the company's advertising on Web sites such as Franchise.com.

The company has moved into a new headquarters building a headquarters that includes one of its clubs at 9410 Prototype in South Meadows.

Martin said the franchise sales effort has benefited from the high-profile efforts of Curves, a company that franchises fitness centers for women.

"I believe that many people who were previously interested in purchasing a Curves franchise have realized the benefits of targeting the Baby Boomer market," he said.

Club 50 franchisees market a 30-minute training routine that combines exercise with nutritional information.

The clubs are open to both genders.

The company's pitch to franchisees is this: The 50-plus demographic is the fastest growing segment of the population, already accounting for 37 percent of Americans and rising to 45 percent by 2015.

And seniors, the company says, control more than 70 percent of the U.S.

disposal income.

Club 50 sells franchises for $24,900.

The package includes fitness equipment, pre-produced broadcast commercials,management software and a starter package with office supplies such as scissors, file folders, an appointment and guest passes.

The company estimates total start-up costs of a franchise at $52,800 to about $88,000,with the costs of real estate and the amount of working capital accounting for the largest differences between one franchise and another.

Club 50 was founded by Martin and David Smith in 2003, and they began developing the franchise program even as they were preparing to open a company-owned location at 294 E.Moana Lane in the Independence Square shopping center.

The financial demands of simultaneously handling a start-up and the requirements of a franchise sales operation were challenging, Martin said, but he said licensing and franchise revenues now are beginning to provide the pay-off.