LA Fitness

LA Fitness is a large, full‑service health club operator serving communities across the United States and Canada. The company, through its parent Fitness International, LLC, runs multi‑amenity gyms that offer cardio and strength equipment, group classes, personal training, pools, courts, and kids programs. As of November 2025, Fitness International operates more than 700 clubs across North America, placing LA Fitness among the largest non‑franchised fitness chains in the region by both revenue and physical footprint.

The brand began in 1984, when founders Chinyol Yi and Louis Welch opened the first LA Fitness club in Covina, California. In its early years, the company grew by acquiring underperforming gyms in Southern California and improving them, while also building new facilities from the ground up. A notable milestone came between 2007 and 2013, when LA Fitness moved into Canada and completed several major portfolio acquisitions, including large groups of clubs from Bally Total Fitness, Lifestyle Family Fitness, and Urban Active. Those deals helped establish LA Fitness as a national and cross‑border player with experience taking over and repositioning existing boxes at scale.

Headquartered in Irvine, California, Fitness International remains privately held and has attracted investment from Madison Dearborn Partners and other private equity investors. Over time, the platform has expanded beyond the original LA Fitness banner. The company operates City Sports Club in Northern California, a brand that keeps the full‑service gym format but under a different name, and Club Studio Fitness, a more boutique‑style concept that focuses on studio programming and upgraded finishes in select U.S. markets. Esporta Fitness, launched in 2020 as a value repositioning of certain LA Fitness locations, has since been wound down. By April 2025, remaining Esporta clubs were either converted back to LA Fitness or closed, and the Esporta digital presence redirected into the main LA Fitness brand.

Over roughly the last five years, Fitness International has actively reshaped its portfolio. The company managed the Esporta rollout and subsequent unwind, pruned weaker locations, and reinvested in stronger trade areas. It has also layered in new concepts. Club Studio Fitness has moved into rollout mode, with 31 locations across 13 states and additional sites in presale or development as of late 2025. This newer format points to a growing focus on higher‑income, infill locations where a more premium fitness offering can anchor or complement a mixed‑use or retail environment. In 2024, Fitness International acquired XSport Fitness, adding another portfolio transaction to its history of using acquisitions to enter or deepen presence in key regions.

For landlords, brokers, and developers, LA Fitness and its sister brands represent experienced, multi‑market health club tenants capable of backfilling large spaces or anchoring neighborhood, community, and power centers, as well as occupying select freestanding buildings. The company has a long record of taking over former club portfolios, reusing existing improvements where possible, and operating at scale across major U.S. metros and suburban growth corridors. As of November 2025, the organization continues to refine its mix of locations while selectively adding new LA Fitness, City Sports Club, and Club Studio Fitness units in high‑opportunity markets, particularly in Northern California and higher‑income infill areas tied to recent acquisitions and portfolio strategies.