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Pricing power in the fitness industry
Cult today is cheaper, inflation-adjusted, than Talwalkars was in 2008 — what that says about pricing power, where gym money actually goes, and the pizza business.
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by Adarsh Gopal
What does it tell you about pricing power in the fitness industry that Cult today, at around 20k a year, is cheaper — inflation-adjusted — than what Talwalkars and Fitness One were charging between 2008 and 2012? Back then it was 12k to 15k a year, which is 30k to 40k in today’s money.
Talwalkars was a listed company. So was Shanxi Orient Fitness, and Nantong Hawk — the fitness equipment maker. The template has been tried at scale, more than once.
And here’s the tell: in most of these operations, more money is spent on interiors than on equipment. Cult’s IPO is, in a sense, Talwalkars 2.0 — the same model, at larger scale. Which raises the obvious question: what does the brand actually stand for?
I don’t think the real revolution in this industry is a bigger chain. I think it’s big spaces with great equipment and great coaches. You already see the seeds of it — small, thoughtful gyms in Bangalore, Madras, Hyderabad and Bombay, each standing for something. And the truth most operators avoid saying out loud is that you outgrow a group class fairly quickly. Once you do, you want equipment and coaching that keep giving.
Think about pizza. Domino’s built an empire on consistency and delivery. But the most interesting pizza — Neapolitan versus New York, San Marzano tomatoes grown in volcanic Vesuvius soil, real mozzarella, a proper crust — lives at the artisanal end, in the hands of people obsessed with it. Both businesses exist. Both are fine. But the guy selling the most pizzas is not necessarily the one making the most profit — or the best pizza.
Fitness is the same. The biggest brand is not automatically the one with pricing power. Pricing power comes from standing for something people can’t get anywhere else.