Crossfit in our city closed down

[sitnspin]

It was in a pretty decent space with good coaches, but I saw the numbers going down, down, down for a good year now.  I kind of thought it was a "fad" while we are on the topic.

I am not saying it isn't great for some people, but it came in pretty quickly, just as it went out in our little city.

How is your crossfit doing?

[robin]

Random, but are you the one with the spinningmusic blog?

[wambam]

Doing great! We're up to 180 members. 6 all-level classes, 1 boot camp, and 1 competition class per day. Been going strong for 5 years and I don't see it going away anytime soon.

I think one problem that some gyms are having is trying to get too big too fast and they are unable to sustain that kind of growth. They go balls out with the classes and the number of trainers and sort of fizzle after a short time, which is unfortunate.

[robin]

I problem I've seen is that boxes open up with people looking to make money off the trend. They aren't properly trained and theyre hurting people.

[wambam]

Apr 30, 2013 13:28:07 GMT -5 robin said:

I problem I've seen is that boxes open up with people looking to make money off the trend. They aren't properly trained and theyre hurting people.

Yes, definitely. Shitty trainers and not enough experience will definitely ruin a gym. 

[sitnspin]

Apr 30, 2013 13:24:40 GMT -5 robin said:

Random, but are you the one with the spinningmusic blog?

I used to blog my music all the time, but since opening my new place, I don't blog about just that anymore.  I am on spotify where you can see all my playlists though.

[sitnspin]

Apr 30, 2013 13:24:40 GMT -5 robin said:

Random, but are you the one with the spinningmusic blog?

I used to blog my music all the time, but since opening my new place, I don't blog about just that anymore.  I am on spotify where you can see all my playlists though.

[pixy0stix]

Were they one of the first boxes to open? I would think that it takes a particular client to do crossfit, especially with the activity level being so high. You'd burn through the people that are only doing it for new years resolutions, or are just curious what crossfit is pretty quickly. Then you'd get people who'd do it for longer, but then just stop for whatever reason and not come back. So if you're in an area without the potential for a large turnover all the time, I could see a box eventually failing.

[sitnspin]

Apr 30, 2013 13:59:02 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Were they one of the first boxes to open? I would think that it takes a particular client to do crossfit, especially with the activity level being so high. You'd burn through the people that are only doing it for new years resolutions, or are just curious what crossfit is pretty quickly. Then you'd get people who'd do it for longer, but then just stop for whatever reason and not come back. So if you're in an area without the potential for a large turnover all the time, I could see a box eventually failing.

I am not exactly sure.  I think they have been around for a couple/few years.

[mrsgoontz]

I go to a CF box that just opened in January. There are only 2 trainers and so far the membership keeps rising.

I think the trainers at a box are a big part of whether or not it will be successful or not.

ETA: I live in the suburbs of a huge city (Approximately 200k people in a 10 mile radius) so there is more of a pool to grab members from.

[emuni04]

My (former) box located in a fairly small city (population of around 40k) is probably going stronger than it was when I was a "member." Funnily enough, that was one of the things that turned me off of my box. I missed the folks in the original class that I participated in, and we kept getting more and more new people that would come in/drop out, and the dynamics just changed. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it just wasn't a fit for me any longer. There were 1-2 more boxes that opened up in our area about 12-18 months ago, but I am pretty sure both have since closed.

[LWoods]

I saw a Groupon (or other discount thing, I just call them all Groupon) for a local Crossfit box the other day, I didn't think that was a great sign for that particular box (but I feel like there are boxes on every corner in San Diego.)

[katietornado]

I live in an area that seems to have limitless demand for CrossFit (Columbus, Ohio). Boxes are seriously popping up every couple of months in this area.

I work in international sales for a company that sells CrossFit equipment and this month was the biggest yet, by a LOT. The US might start to get saturated with "boxes," but it is just beginning to catch on in the rest of the world.

[joenali]

There are three boxes within a 4-5 mile radius.

[sadlebred]

I live within 6-7 miles of about 12 boxes.

[lauren170]

Our box has grown a lot since I joined a year ago. They're moving this week to a bigger space. But in general I do think the market is getting saturated and the average fitness level of the atletes is returning to what you'd find at any regular gym - regression to the mean...

[lauren170]

Our box has grown a lot since I joined a year ago. They're moving this week to a bigger space. But in general I do think the market is getting saturated and the average fitness level of the atletes is returning to what you'd find at any regular gym - regression to the mean...

[softspot]

Apr 30, 2013 17:58:14 GMT -5 katietornado said:

I live in an area that seems to have limitless demand for CrossFit (Columbus, Ohio). Boxes are seriously popping up every couple of months in this area.

I work in international sales for a company that sells CrossFit equipment and this month was the biggest yet, by a LOT. The US might start to get saturated with "boxes," but it is just beginning to catch on in the rest of the world.

I am so jealous of where you work. We have a steady stream of deliveries from them. In fact, I asked for the new women's sweats for Mother's Day. Nerd alert.

[sitnspin]

I totally agree with you all  - the coaches and the people make you come back.  I think that they ran a good Groupon deal and that got them in the door, but then they really increased their rates and that turned everyone off.  I think it is worth the money, but everyone else disagreed.

[wambam]

On the pricing issue - I think that if people are used to the $35/mo 24-hour gym model, they look at CF pricing and they're completely in sticker shock. But you have to realize what you're getting if you have good coaches and a good community.

[katietornado]

Apr 30, 2013 23:30:18 GMT -5 softspot said:

Apr 30, 2013 17:58:14 GMT -5 katietornado said:

I live in an area that seems to have limitless demand for CrossFit (Columbus, Ohio). Boxes are seriously popping up every couple of months in this area.

I work in international sales for a company that sells CrossFit equipment and this month was the biggest yet, by a LOT. The US might start to get saturated with "boxes," but it is just beginning to catch on in the rest of the world.

I am so jealous of where you work. We have a steady stream of deliveries from them. In fact, I asked for the new women's sweats for Mother's Day. Nerd alert.

Uh oh...we're having an issue with them.  The blanks are coming in with one leg longer than the other...ha!  They are on backorder until our vendor can get his shit together.  I'm sorry!  I'm always pushing for more women's stuff though...women love apparel, headbands, etc.  I sit next to the guy who does all new non-R**** product stuff, and every time he gets in a sample of a product for women I tell him we have to sell it.  There's a pink strongman belt sitting next to my desk right now!  I love it!

[softspot]

May 1, 2013 12:10:52 GMT -5 katietornado said:

Apr 30, 2013 23:30:18 GMT -5 softspot said:

I am so jealous of where you work. We have a steady stream of deliveries from them. In fact, I asked for the new women's sweats for Mother's Day. Nerd alert.

Uh oh...we're having an issue with them.  The blanks are coming in with one leg longer than the other...ha!  They are on backorder until our vendor can get his shit together.  I'm sorry!  I'm always pushing for more women's stuff though...women love apparel, headbands, etc.  I sit next to the guy who does all new non-R**** product stuff, and every time he gets in a sample of a product for women I tell him we have to sell it.  There's a pink strongman belt sitting next to my desk right now!  I love it!

Oh, maybe I'll wait then until the kinks get worked out. They look soooooo comfortable. And yes, more womens stuff would be great.

[reginaphalange72]

It did??? That's too bad. I went there for a bit because it was right around the corner from my house. It was convenient and I loved it, but I couldn't justify the cost. That's a bummer.