Should You Add a Smoothie Bar to Your Studio?

Installing a juice, coffee or smoothie bar inside your studio may appear just like a dependable method to add revenue for your business. However, it isn’t a choice to create without lots of research in to the expense and energy to construct out, and just how which will ultimately affect your main point here. We spoken to 2 Toronto studio proprietors regarding their encounters and whether or not they would do all of it again.

The king of amenities

While your studio, the trainers and also the classes help sell memberships, nothing seals the offer that can compare with upscale amenities. Among the best perks of is getting an on-site juice, coffee or smoothie bar. People can select up a proper beverage after class, making your gym the best one-stop-shop.

“I honestly think every gym requires a juice bar,” states Ray Track, who owns Track Fitness in Toronto. “Otherwise, your customers goes elsewhere.”

Adds Anthony Clarke, who owns Juiced Bar at Hard Chocolate Fitness in Toronto, “An important benefit is the development of a location to spend time, an after-workout destination where individuals could be social. We feel this is a valuable part in our club-to construct a strong and healthy community of people that like to sweat enjoy yourself.”

If you are thinking about adding refreshments for your studio, consider whether there’s an industry with this among your customers. Are you currently situated in a metro area that’s otherwise densely populated with smoothie bars, juice bars, or coffee houses? Your clients might be more acquainted with individuals brands and also have purchasing habits in position at individuals other venues. That being stated, if you’re able to replicate the standard and repair that the bigger franchise provides by having an efficient prep method after class, you are able to certainly stick out among that competition and potentially convert individuals clients.

Upfront costs

As the on-site bar can be a useful accessory for your studio, be skeptical it comes at a price. When Track first opened up his gym in 2005, it had been single,000-square-feet studio. He was making clients shakes and smoothies from a bullet-like blender with virtually no expenses. Fast-forward eight years, and that he moved right into a 10,000-square-feet venue, where he dedicated 700 square ft to his juice and shake bar, dubbed “Larry’s Kitchen.”

Just how much will it cost to construct out this type of space? “You’re searching at least of $50,000,” Track told us. “A good fridge is $5,000-$7,000, and you need freezers. Used to do it on the shoestring budget at first, however when you wish to have a complete-fledged bar, and get it done nice, the counters and refrigerators and plumbing costs alone can get you to $50,000.”

After which there’s the maintenance. Stocking fresh juices is really a pricey business, especially considering their expiration date. “Making protein shakes is a superb revenue,” stated Track. “But with regards to juices and food, the margins are pretty small. And you possess the waste. Despite the fact that i was creating a great profit on shakes, i was losing a lot money because of expired food and juices.”

Based on articles printed by Entrepreneur, smoothie shop owner Cari West of Blaz’n Blenders claimed 50% of her expenses visited food costs alone. She attributes these expenses towards the top quality produce and ingredients she uses, and states, “I could use costly ingredients, but my stores have been in places where I’m able to afford it. My location and my product are two of the most important areas of my company.” Like a studio or gym owner, the advantages of health-conscious clients when you need it are huge, though it’s vital that you take into account that if juice and smoothie manufacturing aren’t your primary focus, it may be difficult to truly make money.

The daily grind

Another cost to think about: staffing. When Hard Chocolate opened up its doorways in 2013, group fitness director Lori Kirwan were built with a full-time salaried staffer on-hands making smoothies everyday. “We discovered that the juice bar profits weren’t even having to pay for that salary,” stated Kirwin. She and her team ultimately allow the staffer go and rather offered the bar to Clarke, who now pays Hard Chocolate a regular monthly lease for Juiced Bar. “He’s running it as being their own business, any profit he makes past the rent he owes us is their own,” Kirwan described.

Based on Clarke, his monthly expenses are presently $2,000 per month, several which includes rent, staffing and convey (although not marketing). As they states he’s making money, also, he admits he is not having to pay themself, regardless of the lengthy hrs he puts in everyday.

“The factor to know is the fact that the way the bar does revenue-wise depends completely in your membership-people aren’t arriving from the street to purchase juice within the gym,” Clarke described. “So the juice bar is only going to do along with the club itself, be going with the good and the bad together with membership.”

Another business

After managing Larry’s Kitchen for any year . 5, Track opted to lease the space to Green house Juice, a warm local chain that pays Track part of the bar profits, additionally to book each month. “They’re doing great, but that’s the things they’re doing, it’s the things they focus on,” stated Track. “You really require a large amount of understanding and concentrate and training, and Green house does. Plus they understood our traffic flow. It’s an ideal fit.”

If you possess the capital to support it, it’s worth thinking about the franchise route of putting in a properly-known brand in-house, much like how Equinox includes a Juice Generation location in their East 63rd St. gym in Manhattan. Kirwan adds, “Like any company, the juice bar takes full-on passion and commitment to really make it work. For all of us it made probably the most sense to delegate it for an expert.”

With regards to main point here, unless of course you’re in a budget with lots of cash, space, and staff to support it, an in-house juice, coffee or smoothie bar is most likely and not the best investment. Meanwhile, concentrate on delivering that which you do best: an incredible workout and client experience.

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