The international expansion of the l’Orange bleue group continues with the opening of new l’Orange bleue mon coach fitness studios in Madrid. Already established as a branch and under licence, the opening of 5 clubs in Madrid in 2024 marks the ambition to conquer the Spanish market.
An expansion strategy in Spain
L’Orange Bleue is resuming its expansion plan in Spain, where it plans to double its network of centres this year. The French gym chain, which operates three facilities in Barcelona, Valencia and Castellón, will launch five of its own clubs in Madrid between 2024. Three of these have already been signed, while the other two are very advanced projects just waiting to be signed. The company, which invests an average of €300,000 per venue, will finance this expansion with a €2 million bank loan. L’Orange Bleue, which has been profitable since it was founded in 1996, will also be profitable in 2022 after achieving sales of 156 million euros in France and Spain. This year, it plans to increase this figure to €180 million.
‘Madrid is a powerful market, and by entering with five clubs at once, we are positioning ourselves as a brand,’ José Nercellas, managing director of L’Orange bleue, told 2Playbook. Its expansion will not stop there, as the company sees ‘potential’ to reach 200 gyms in the next five years in Spain, a market in which Basic-Fit, which also operates in the low-cost segment and has over 100 sites, and Synergym, which has over 80 facilities, are experiencing strong growth. They are joined by VivaGym and Altafit with low-cost gyms.
Parallel expansion in France
By 2024, the company plans to add a dozen centres with brand licences and a few more of its own. The chain landed in Spain in 2017 and opened its latest centre in Malaga last year. ‘We will be looking at different possibilities for locations, some of the centres will be new, but if the opportunity arises to buy independent centres or small chains, we will also analyse that,’ says José Nercellas. The chain is also looking to expand in France, where it has 380 sports centres. ‘We believe we have the potential to double the current number of gyms in this country’, with a “concentration of brands in the market, as customers are increasingly looking for brands and trust”.
The Group’s brands
The chain, which is looking for premises of between 550 and 750 square metres, is basing its proposal on supervised activities, customer care and weight training areas. José Nercellas insists that classes are one of the chain’s strong points, having developed its own training methodology, registered under the Yako brand, which enables it to train its own instructors, who give around 50 face-to-face classes a week.
L’Orange bleue is not only looking to expand through new gyms, but is also looking to diversify its business by leveraging its expertise in service provision. On the one hand, it is studying the formula for extending Yako beyond its clubs, in order to sell it to other sports halls in France and abroad.
