Gym and Fitness Centers Recovery Helps Shopping Center Tenants and Owners

The return of customers to gyms and fitness centers has not only boosted the bottom line of franchises in that sector, it has also provided some good news for their neighboring businesses at shopping centers, as well as for retail landlords and mall owners, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal.

Some stats from the article:

• Monthly visits to gyms since February have averaged about 13% higher than 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels, according to retail analytics firm Creditntell.
• Data from Creditntell also showed that a retailer located in a shopping center that also has a gym receives, on average, 2.5% more visits a month compared with the same retailer’s other locations in centers without fitness businesses, noting that “niche and local fitness studios amplify foot traffic to nearby tenants a bit more than national gym chains,” according to the article.
• In July, sales per square foot at gyms reached $108, up 24% from January 2021 and only slightly below pre-pandemic levels, according to Datex Property Solutions.
• Of the nearly 60,000 U.S. health and fitness facilities operating in March 2020, about 1 in 4 were permanently closed by the beginning of 2022, according to the global health and fitness association IHRSA, which also reported that paid U.S. gym memberships have risen 3.8% since the start of 2020.

The article also included comments from people in the commercial real estate business. Find the full article here.