CityFitness is putting a $100 million expansion plan behind New Zealand's growing appetite for low-cost, structured fitness, with the chain planning about 50 more gyms over the next five years.
The company told 1News the programme could create up to 1000 jobs nationwide. Chief operating officer Doug Hatten said the chain would target population centres with catchments of 30,000 to 40,000 people within a five to ten kilometre radius, particularly where residents have limited existing gym options.
That makes the story more than a property rollout. It is a test of whether a national operator can make fitness feel practical for communities that are large enough to support a club but not always large enough to attract the same range of amenities as bigger cities. If the model works, the next wave of gyms may be judged less by city-centre visibility and more by whether they shorten the trip from home, school or work.
The operator angle matters because gyms are now part of everyday health infrastructure for many households. A recent industry report cited by 1News estimated gyms and fitness centres would generate about $636 million in revenue this year, while nearly one in three adults already pays for some form of structured fitness. That is a sizeable market, but it also raises expectations around affordability, safety, staff capability and accessibility.
CityFitness is also opening women-only gyms, a move the company links to changing training preferences. That part of the plan will be watched closely. Dedicated spaces can remove a real barrier for some members, especially those who feel uncomfortable in crowded weights areas. They also ask operators to prove that inclusion is built into the service model rather than added as a marketing line.
Youth demand is another signal. Exercise New Zealand chief executive Richard Beddie said teen participation is helping lift the sector, with more than 30 percent of 16- and 17-year-olds already involved and a further 14 percent wanting to join. For a gym chain, those figures point to future customers. For communities, they point to a broader question: can that interest be turned into healthy routines without pricing families out?
The risk for any fast expansion is consistency. A gym is not simply a room of equipment. It depends on staff, maintenance, cleaning, safety culture, opening hours, member support and the quiet social contract that people feel welcome when they walk in. Opening 50 gyms is therefore an operational challenge as much as a capital plan.
CityFitness has a clear growth story. The harder test will be local trust. If the new clubs reach places with limited options, keep prices understandable and make more people comfortable training, the expansion will look like genuine access. If it simply adds more floor space in already well-served markets, the health promise will be thinner.
For now, the plan gives New Zealand's fitness sector a new benchmark for scale. It also shows how much the gym has moved from a niche habit to a mainstream service that young people, workers and families increasingly expect to find close by.
