Self Esteem Brands (SEB), which bills itself as the world’s largest portfolio of purpose-driven health and personal care franchise brands, closed 2023 with year-over-year growth across a set of business and member metrics that is said “shows continued demand worldwide for franchising and personal health services.”

Across SEB’s portfolio of brands, combined franchise sales grew by more than 500 units worldwide, including 284 new non-U.S. locations and systemwide revenues up 12.3 percent over 2022.

New countries reportedly joining include Anytime Fitness master franchisees in France and Austria, while franchise locations in Canada consolidated under a new master franchisee. SEB also introduced SumHITT Fitness, the international expansion of the Basecamp Fitness brand in the U.S. with the first location in early 2024 in Australia and Singapore.

“Franchising is a proven model that empowers franchisees to be in business for themselves—but not by themselves—and receiving ongoing support from the franchisor,” said Dave Mortensen, president of SEB. “We are encouraged by the 2023 growth across our portfolio of brands and system and see strong gains to be made both in the U.S. and in new countries and regions worldwide.”

Anytime Fitness
SEB said Anytime Fitness has been both one of the fastest-growing franchises and fastest-growing health club brands in history, with locations across 42 countries on all seven continents. Anytime Fitness members reportedly made more than 40 million reciprocal visits in 2023.

Globally, Anytime Fitness clubs in 2023 showed a 6.7 percent year-over-year increase in coaching and personal training services. Based on more than 1,451,700 total body scans, members worldwide in 2023 reported a combined loss of 1.57 million pounds of fat, gained nearly 872,000 pounds of muscle, and clocked in an average body fat percentage of 26.5 percent.

The brand forecasts that 1 million members worldwide will adopt the Anytime Fitness App app in 2024, key to its promise of “anytime, anywhere,” with total downloads in 2023 showing a positive trend.

Waxing the City
Waxing the City had an explosive year of growth, with franchise sales more than 300 percent higher than in 2022. The concept is said to offer a best-in-class service platform, with a 93 percent overall satisfaction rate among clients, with an average year-over-year ticket increase of 3 percent, more than 313,000 unique clients and 1.2 million tickets (sessions at a Waxing the City studio).

Basecamp Fitness
The DNA of Basecamp Fitness is a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) studio concept. Basecamp’s investments in 2023 to elevate every facet of a member experience, from coaching and app use to in-studio music and lighting, delivered on the best HIIT experience in the marketplace. The expansion will continue globally in 2024 through both the Basecamp brand (U.S.) and the SumHIIT Fitness brand overseas.

The Bar Method
The Bar Method studio brand grew to 1.6 million class attendees in 2023, 14 percent higher than in 2022. The Bar Method also introduced the Bar Strength class format, with more than 6,000 classes hosted over the back half of 2023. The brand will announce its international franchise expansion in the first quarter of 2024.

Stronger U
Stronger U, the virtual health and nutrition service that Self Esteem Brands acquired in 2021, also showed evidence of improvements in health and wellness outcomes. In 2023, Stronger U members saw an average loss of 15 pounds when combined with weekly check-ins via the app with coaches, with 97 percent more confident navigating nutrition and their health goals.

Image courtesy Anytime Fitness