Planet Fitness was founded by brothers Michael and Marc Grondahl in 1992 when they opened the first location in Dover, New Hampshire. In 2002, the partners bought the rights to the Planet Fitness name from Rick Berks and renamed the franchise. Planet Fitness is a publicly traded corporation that owns and operates about 80 gym locations. The rest of its over 2,000 facilities are independently owned and operated by franchisees. The current CEO, Chris Rondeau, has been with Planet Fitness since the 1990s.
The company markets itself as a "Judgement Free Zone" that caters to novice and casual gym users. It has faced both praise and criticism for its atmosphere. Planet Fitness franchisees typically invest between $969,000 to $4.242 million to open a new location. This covers costs like equipment, signage, and working capital.
In 2022, Planet Fitness acquired Sunshine Fitness, which operates 114 locations across 5 Southeastern states. Sunshine Fitness CEO Shane McGuiness, a 20-year Planet Fitness franchise owner, now oversees operations for all corporate-owned stores. Approximately 58.94% of Planet Fitness stock is owned by institutional investors like Blackrock, which is the largest shareholder with a 13.99% stake. Another 0.01% is owned by Planet Fitness insiders, while the remaining 41.05% is held by public companies and individual investors.