Jan 10, 2007 12:48 PM

IRVINE, CA – Fitness club franchises remain a hot business opportunity if Entrepreneur magazine’s annual Top 500 Franchise list is any indication. The list, which was released earlier this month and ranks franchises in a variety of industries, includes seven fitness club companies, many of which also made the fastest-growing franchise and the low-cost franchise lists. The overall list also includes five fitness program companies.

Curves remains at the top of the fitness club franchise list, but drops from third on the overall Top 500 list last year to 15^th this year. The Waco, TX-based company still makes the fastest-growing franchise list at 23^rd, a drop from fifth last year. It also drops on the low-cost franchise list from first last year to fourth this year.

Gold’s Gym Franchising LLC, Irving, TX, is the next highest ranked club franchise company on the overall list, coming in at 63^rd, which is a jump up from last year’s ranking of 76^th. The company also ranks 89^th in the fastest-growing franchise category. (Photo is of the Gold’s Gym in Princeton, NJ, owned by Bonnie and Randy Vey and designed by Fabiano Designs. Photo by Andrea Brizzi.)

Fitness Together, a personal training studio company that has been franchising since 1996, ranks 77^th on the overall list, making a big move from 118^th last year. The Highlands Ranch, CO-based company also ranks 41^st on the fastest growing franchise list.

Nicholasville, KY-based Contours Express ranks 141^st on the overall list, which is a drop from 116^th place last year. The women-only club franchise drops off the fastest-growing franchise category this year despite ranking 91^st on it last year. However, Contour Express ranks 33^rd in the low-cost franchise category this year.

Snap Fitness Inc., Chanhassen, MN, comes in next for fitness clubs, ranking 206th on the overall Top 500 list. This is the first year the company, which began franchising in 2004, made the Top 500 list. It also ranks 51^st on the fastest-growing franchise list and 11^th on the top new franchise list.

My Gym Children’s Fitness Center, Sherman Oaks, CA, ranks 221^st on the overall list. This ranking is a drop from last year when the company ranked 183^rd. It ranks 52^nd in the low-cost category.

The last club franchise on the list is Anytime Fitness, West St. Paul, MN. The key-card club company, which began franchising in 2002, ranks 353^rd, a drop from 261^st last year. However, the company ranks 36^th on the fastest-growing franchise list this year, an increase from last year when it ranked 58^th in this category. It also ranks 94^th in the low-cost franchise category.

The five fitness program-related companies that made the Top 500 list are: Jazzercise Inc., Carlsbad, CA, at 35^th; The Little Gym, which is the Scottsdale, AZ-based children’s fitness program company, at 140^th; Stretch-N-Grow International Inc., the fitness program company for preschool children, at 217^th; Cincinnati, OH-based StrollerFit Inc. at 314^th; and JW Tumbles, a children’s gymnastics program company in Solana Beach, CA, at 387^th.

To read more details about the rankings, visit the Entrepreneur magazine Web site. (www.entrepreneur.com)

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