Anytime Fitness

Anytime Fitness is an American fitness-club franchise founded in Minnesota in 2002 by Chuck Runyon, Dave Mortensen, and Jeff Klinger. Its central proposition is straightforward: members receive electronic access to participating clubs at any time of day, throughout the year, rather than being limited to conventional staffed opening hours. The brand combines a distributed network of generally compact gyms with franchise ownership, standardized operating support, and local club management. The founders had previously worked together in the fitness industry and jointly operated Southview Athletic Club in St. Paul, Minnesota. Their experience at that club, including research into what established gym members wanted from their facilities, informed the Anytime Fitness concept. The first franchise club opened in Cambridge, Minnesota, in 2002, followed soon afterward by locations in Duluth and Albert Lea. The business emphasized local convenience and relatively accessible sites rather than only large, full-service health-club formats. Expansion was primarily franchise-led. The first club outside the United States opened in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2005. The network reached 1,000 clubs in 2009 and subsequently entered additional markets across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, and Latin America. By 2018, the franchise reported more than 4,200 locations and approximately three million clients in over 32 countries; reference material describes more than 5,000 locations in 50 countries in the 2020s. Typical clubs provide resistance machines, free weights, cardiovascular equipment, and functional-training areas. Some locations also offer personal training and other coaching services. Equipment, amenities, membership prices, staffed hours, contract terms, and programming vary because individual clubs are operated by local franchisees. Members generally join through a home club while receiving access to other participating Anytime Fitness locations, subject to the applicable membership and club rules. In 2012, Runyon and Mortensen formed Self Esteem Brands as an umbrella organization for Anytime Fitness and additional personal-care and fitness concepts. Roark Capital acquired a large minority interest in Anytime Fitness in 2014, while the founders continued to hold and operate the business at that time. Self Esteem Brands later expanded its portfolio with brands including Waxing the City, Basecamp Fitness, The Bar Method, and Stronger U Nutrition. Self Esteem Brands merged with Orangetheory Fitness in 2024. The combined parent organization was named Purpose Brands. Anytime Fitness therefore remains an active operating brand within a larger fitness-franchise platform. Its distinguishing identity continues to center on round-the-clock access, local neighborhood presence, and the scalability of franchising rather than on a single uniform club format.

The founders of Anytime Fitness—Chuck Runyon, Dave Mortensen, and Jeff Klinger—first met while working at a St. Paul, Minnesota, fitness club in the early 1990s. In 1995 they jointly acquired Southview Athletic Club and operated it for seven years. During their ownership, membership grew from about 500 to 4,000. The club experience led them to study the expectations of long-term gym members and to consider a model based on accessibility, convenience, and less restrictive operating hours. They founded Anytime Fitness in 2002. Eric Keller, a former Southview employee, became the first franchise owner, and the first franchise location opened in Cambridge, Minnesota, later that year. Two further Minnesota locations followed in Duluth and Albert Lea, operated by former Southview employees. The founders sold 29 franchises before opening a corporate-owned location in Bemidji, illustrating the company’s early reliance on franchise expansion. International growth began in 2005 with the opening of a club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. By 2008, the network had nearly 700 franchisees across 45 U.S. states and Canada, including a limited number of wholly owned clubs. It opened its 1,000th club in Texas in January 2009 and had exceeded 1,200 clubs and roughly 800,000 members by October of that year. Klinger, who had served as chief executive from the company’s inception, sold his shares and left the CEO position in December 2009; Runyon succeeded him. During the early 2010s the franchise entered or announced plans for markets including Mexico, India, Japan, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Qatar, and Poland. By 2012, clubs operated in a broad group of markets including Australia, Canada, Grand Cayman, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Qatar, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In the same year, Runyon and Mortensen created Self Esteem Brands to provide an umbrella structure for Anytime Fitness and additional personal-care and fitness businesses. Waxing the City joined the group in 2012, followed later by Basecamp Fitness, The Bar Method, and Stronger U Nutrition. The company purchased a 38-acre Woodbury, Minnesota, site for a new headquarters in 2013. In 2014, Roark Capital Group acquired a large minority interest, and Roark directors Erik Morris and Steve Romaniello joined the Anytime Fitness board. Runyon and Mortensen remained principal holders and continued to run the business at that stage. The brand opened its 3,000th club in England in 2015 and moved its headquarters from Hastings to Woodbury in 2016. China became a further strategic market in 2017, when Anytime Fitness received a franchising license and entered a master-franchise arrangement. In 2018, the system reported more than 4,200 locations and three million clients in over 32 countries. The brand also extended its concept into unusual travel settings: in 2019, an Anytime Fitness gym was provided for passengers on the Magellan Explorer during journeys to and from Antarctica. Self Esteem Brands and Orangetheory Fitness announced a merger in February 2024, completing the transaction in April. The combined parent was named Purpose Brands. The resulting platform comprised more than 7,000 locations, with Anytime Fitness representing the larger portion of the Self Esteem Brands network. The brand’s operating model remains based on local franchise ownership, electronic member access, and clubs that are generally open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Specific facilities, personal-training availability, prices, and contractual rights continue to differ by location.

1. 2024Purpose Brands is created

   Self Esteem Brands completes its merger with Orangetheory Fitness, creating the Purpose Brands parent organization.

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2. 2017China franchising license granted

   Anytime Fitness becomes the first U.S.-based fitness chain granted a franchising license in China.

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3. 2016Headquarters moves to Woodbury

   The company relocates its headquarters from Hastings to Woodbury, Minnesota.

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4. 20153,000th club opens

   The brand opens its 3,000th club in Stroud, England.

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5. 2014Roark Capital acquires a minority interest

   Roark Capital Group acquires a large minority share in Anytime Fitness and appoints two directors.

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6. 2012Self Esteem Brands is formed

   Runyon and Mortensen establish an umbrella organization that includes Anytime Fitness and other franchise concepts.

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7. 20091,000th club opens

   The network reaches 1,000 clubs with an opening in Wake Village, Texas.

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8. 2005First international club opens

   The first location outside the United States opens in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

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9. 2002Anytime Fitness is founded

   Chuck Runyon, Dave Mortensen, and Jeff Klinger establish the franchise in Minnesota; the first franchise club opens in Cambridge later that year.

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A convenience-led, community-oriented fitness franchise distinguished by 24-hour access and a distributed neighborhood-club model.

• Gym membershipsMembership service2002

  The core commercial offering is membership in an Anytime Fitness club. A member typically joins through a designated home club and may receive access to other participating locations. Prices, contract terms, cancellation provisions, guest policies, and cross-location access vary by market and franchise.

• 24/7 club accessAccess service2002

  Electronic entry systems support access to participating clubs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Staffed hours and safety procedures can differ by location, and access rights depend on the member’s agreement and the policies of the relevant clubs.

• Personal trainingTraining service

  Many clubs provide personal-training services or coaching through local trainers. Sessions may address strength, cardiovascular fitness, weight management, or individual performance goals, but availability, formats, qualifications, and fees are determined at the club level.

• Gym equipment and training areasFitness facilities2002

  Typical facilities include resistance machines, free weights, treadmills and other cardiovascular equipment, plus spaces or machines for functional training. The equipment mix and amenities are not uniform across the franchise network.

• 2024Merger of Self Esteem Brands with Orangetheory FitnessM&A

  The two fitness-franchise organizations combined to create a larger platform spanning multiple club and wellness concepts.

  What changed. Self Esteem Brands merged with Orangetheory Fitness; the transaction was completed in April 2024 and the parent was named Purpose Brands.

  Aftermath. Anytime Fitness became a brand within Purpose Brands, whose combined network was described as exceeding 7,000 locations.

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• 2017Entry into China through master franchisingStrategy

  The company pursued expansion in one of the world’s largest consumer markets through a local franchise structure.

  What changed. Anytime Fitness obtained a Chinese franchising license and entered a master-franchise agreement with Maurice Levine.

  Aftermath. China became part of the brand’s international development strategy.

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• 2012Formation of Self Esteem BrandsStrategy

  The founders sought an umbrella structure that could extend the franchise platform beyond Anytime Fitness into other personal-care and fitness concepts.

  What changed. Chuck Runyon and Dave Mortensen formed Self Esteem Brands and added additional brands over time.

  Aftermath. Anytime Fitness became the principal brand in a broader multi-brand franchise group.

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• 2024Self Esteem Brands merges with Orangetheory Fitness

  The merger created Purpose Brands, a larger fitness-franchise parent organization that includes Anytime Fitness.

  M&A
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• 2017Anytime Fitness receives a franchising license in China

  The company became the first U.S.-based fitness chain granted a franchising license in China.

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• 2015Anytime Fitness reaches 3,000 clubs

  The brand opened its 3,000th club in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England.

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• 2014Anytime Fitness named Entrepreneur franchise leader

  Entrepreneur ranked Anytime Fitness first on its Franchise 500 list.

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• 2009Anytime Fitness reaches 1,000 clubs

  The company opened its 1,000th club in Wake Village, Texas, during a period of rapid franchise growth.

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• 2009Jeff Klinger leaves the chief executive role

  Co-founder Jeff Klinger sold his shares and stepped down as chief executive; Chuck Runyon assumed the role.

  Leadership change
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• 2005Anytime Fitness opens its first club outside the United States

  The franchise opened a club in Halifax, Nova Scotia, marking its first international location.

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1. Anytime Fitness
2. Anytime Fitness official website
3. Self Esteem Brands