Start a Retro Fitness Franchise in 2025

Franchise 500 Rank: N/R Not ranked last year

Initial investment: $1.4M - $2.2M

Units as of 2024: 92 11% over 3 years

For over 15 years, Retro Fitness has helped Americans meet their health and fitness goals. Its fitness programs are effective, and the business model is easy for franchisees to follow.

Retro Fitness has been ranked in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 numerous times recently. This ranking is based on an evaluation of more than 150 data points in the areas of costs and fees, size and growth, franchisee support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability.

Retro Fitness has grown since it started franchising in 2006, now boasting over 130 gym locations. If you want to help others reach their fitness goals while also flexing your business muscle with the right qualifications, you could become a Retro Fitness gym franchisee.

Why May You Want to Start a Retro Fitness Franchise

As a franchisee, you can be an owner-operator directly in charge of your franchise or choose to hire a team to run it for you as an absent franchisee.

Retro Fitness provides dedicated support to its franchisees. Franchisees receive development for a gym's grand opening and ongoing support after operations begin. The Retro Fitness franchise will assist franchisees in site selection, developing marketing and social media plans, price negotiation, and much more.

Retro Fitness prioritizes veterans, as it offers a discount off the franchise fee for those who have served and now wish to get into the gym business.

What Might Make a Retro Fitness Franchise a Good Choice?

Customers love Retro Fitness; they continue to choose it over other gym franchises because Retro Fitness strives to be an inclusive community and offers various workout plans at affordable and flexible prices. Retro Fitness offers reward programs, a fitness app, endurance and conditioning programs, cardio training, weight training, personal training, and group strength and conditioning workouts. Retro Fitness also has more than 150 pieces of premium equipment to fit clients' lifestyles. Amenities such as the Retro Blend smoothie bars, tanning, hydromassage, and child-sitting services are also available depending on a franchisee's total investment and site selection.

To be part of the Retro Fitness team, you should make sure you're financially ready for an initial investment, including potential setup fees and a franchise fee. To meet the financial requirements, you will need a minimum net worth and liquid capital. Ongoing costs may also include a royalty fee and a marketing fund contribution.

How Do You Open a Retro Fitness Franchise?

Retro Fitness has broken down its franchising process into eight steps. The first step, as with most franchises, is to fill out an inquiry form. A Retro Fitness franchise representative may follow up with you, review your financial qualifications, and send you the Franchise Disclosure Document.

If you are a good match, you may be asked to attend a Retro Fitness franchise discovery day. Here, you may have the opportunity to speak with current franchisees and company executives.

If all parties involved agree, you may be ready to sign a franchise agreement. From here, you may begin site selection and pre-construction with the guidance of Retro Fitness franchise representatives. Around the same time, you will also need to be trained under the Retro Fitness business model.

Company Overview

About Retro Fitness

Industry	Health & Wellness
Related Categories	Fitness , Miscellaneous Personal-Care Businesses, Miscellaneous Recreation Businesses
Founded	2002
Leadership	Andrew Alfano, CEO
Corporate Address	1601 Belvedere Rd., #E500 West Palm Beach, FL 33406
Social	Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube

Business Overview

Franchising Since	2006 (19 years)
# of employees at HQ	35
Where seeking	This company is offering new franchises throughout the US. This company is offering new franchises worldwide.
# of Units	92 (as of 2024)

Information for Franchisees

Here's what you need to know if you're interested in opening a Retro Fitness franchise.

Financial Requirements & Ongoing Fees

Here's what you can expect to spend to start the business and what ongoing fees the franchisor charges throughout the life of the business.

Initial Franchise Fee Definition: The initial fee paid to a franchisor to join their system What you need to know: Found in Item 5 of the FDD, this may be a flat fee, or may vary based on territory size, experience, or other factors.The franchise fee is an up-front (one-time) cost that a new franchisee pays to the franchisor. This fee is usually due at the signing of the franchise agreement and covers the right to use the franchisor's trademarks, name, and related business systems.	$29,000
Initial Investment Definition: The total amount necessary to begin operation of the franchise What you need to know: The initial investment includes the franchise fee, along with other startup expenses such as real estate, equipment, supplies, business licenses, and working capital. This is outlined in a chart in Item 7 of the FDD, showing a range of possible costs from low to high.	$1,400,000 - $2,200,000
Net Worth Requirement Definition: The minimum net worth you must have in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company What you need to know: Net worth is the value of a person's assets minus liabilities. Assets include cash, stocks, retirement accounts, and real estate. Liabilities include items like mortgages, car payments, and credit card debt.	$2,000,000
Cash Requirement Definition: The minimum liquid capital you must have available in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company.	$500,000
Veteran Incentives Definition: A discount or other incentive offered to military veterans who buy a franchise with this company.	Franchise fee waived, royalty fee reduced by 50% for 1 year
Royalty Fee Definition: A ongoing fee paid to the franchisor on a regular basis. What you need to know: Most franchisors require franchisees to pay an ongoing royalty fee, which is detailed in Item 6 of the FDD. This fee is typically a percentage of weekly or monthly gross sales, but may also be a flat weekly, monthly, or annual fee.	5%
Ad Royalty Fee Definition: An going fee paid to the franchisor on a regular basis to support advertising or marketing efforts. What you need to know: This may also be called advertising fee, marketing fee, brand fund fee, and more, but the basic purpose is the same-- to support promotion of the brand systemwide. As with the royalty fee, it is detailed in Item 6 of the FDD, and can be a percentage of weekly or monthly gross sales or a weekly, monthly, or annual fee.	2%
Term of Agreement Definition: The length of time your franchise agreement will last. What you need to know: Franchise terms are typically anywhere from 5 to 20 years in length, but are sometimes instead dependent on factors such as the term of your lease. Once your term is up, you may have the option to renew your agreement, typically for a smaller fee than the original franchise fee.	10 years
Is franchise term renewable?	Yes

Financing Options

Some franchisors offer in-house financing, while others have relationships with third-party financing sources to which they refer qualified franchisees.

In-House Financing	Retro Fitness offers in-house financing to cover the following: startup costs
Third Party Financing	Retro Fitness has relationships with third-party sources which offer financing to cover the following: franchise fee, startup costs, equipment, inventory, accounts receivable, payroll

Training & Support Offered

Franchisors offer initial training programs and a variety of ongoing support options to help franchisees run their businesses.

On-The-Job Training	80 hours
Classroom Training	40 hours
Ongoing Support	Purchasing Co-ops Newsletter Meetings & Conventions Toll-Free Line Grand Opening Online Support Security & Safety Procedures Lease Negotiation Field Operations Site Selection Proprietary Software Franchisee Intranet Platform
Marketing Support	Co-op Advertising Ad Templates National Media Regional Advertising Social Media SEO Website Development Email Marketing Loyalty Program/App

Operations

Additional details about running this franchise.

Is absentee ownership allowed?	Yes
Can this franchise be run from home/mobile unit? Definition: The business can be run from your home and/or a vehicle, and it is not necessary to have a retail facility, office space, or warehouse.	No
Can this franchise be run part time? Definition: This business can be run by the owner on a part-time basis (less than 40 hours per week) and/or as a side business; it is not necessary for the business to be open/run full-time.	No
# of employees required to run	20-25
Are exclusive territories available? Definition: An exclusive territory is a fixed area in which you are given the right to operate and in which no other units of the same franchise may be opened. What you need to know: Territory size may be based on factors such as radius, population size, zip codes, and more. Details can be found in Item 12 of the FDD.	Yes