Struggling fitness chain F45 has suffered another blow, with more than thirteen franchises closing their doors in Australia in recent months.
The Opulent Group, one of F45’s largest franchisees, has closed at least five gyms in Sydney, four in the southern suburbs of Kogarah, Kirrawee, Caringbah, Miranda and one in Balgowlah, on the northern beaches.
F45 Training Parramatta CBD in Sydney, F45 Training Bayswater North in Melbourne and F45 Training Devonport in Tasmania are all set to close.
Earlier this year, branches in Wollongong, including in Bulli and Corrimal, and Zetland in Sydney, closed their doors.
Two Victorian branches were also closed, including those in Port Melbourne and South Yarra.
Struggling owners have even taken to Facebook to sell some of their fitness equipment.
F45-brand fitness equipment, including kettlebells, benches and dumbbells, sells on Facebook Marketplace for as little as $3.
The F45 Training Bayswater North, in the east of the city, collapsed into liquidation on Sunday
F45 CEO Tom Dowd, who was appointed in March this year to turn around the struggling training company, told Daily Mail Australia last month that they were not shying away from reducing their network.
“We are willing to shrink to grow,” he said.
‘Closing unproductive locations to add value to existing studios strengthens our system.
‘An important aspect of our real estate strategy is to prevent oversaturation.‘
F45, which started with one gym in Sydney in 2012, grew to 1,555 studios and 2,801 franchises in 63 countries by mid-2021. The intention was to eventually have 23,000 studios worldwide.
Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg invested $450 million in the company and celebrated its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in mid-2021 with Australian co-founder Adam Gilchrist.
The branch, which still says it’s open on Google and charges members $60 a week, was once crowned the best studio in its division and boasts an Instagram post that says it’s “more than a gym.”
That financial support placed Mr Gilchrist – who is not the famous cricketer of the same name – on the Australian Financial Review Rich List.
A year later, the “world’s fastest growing fitness company,” valued at more than $2 billion dollars, fell off a cliff.
In August 2022, the gym’s stock price fell from $17.28 to just $3. The stock has continued to fall, with shares trading for less than $1 since April.
Meanwhile, at least eight class actions have been filed in the US against F45 in connection with its IPO on the NYSE, alleging “potential violations of securities laws and/or breaches of fiduciary duties.”
Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg was an early American investor in F45