KX Pilates enters master franchise agreement to expand into Japan

Now with more than 100 studios in Australia and a further 20 abroad, Melbourne-born fitness franchise KX Pilates is stretching into its seventh market through an expansion into Japan where locations are planned in Tokyo and Osaka.

Founded by Aaron Smith in 2010, KX Pilates was a pioneer in the Australian reformer Pilates market, inspired by the Japanese philosophy of "Kaizen" with guiding principles of continuous improvement and positive change.

The acronym KX stands for "Kaizen Xperience", so the brand growing into Japan is something of a full circle moment for the group which two years ago opened up studios in New Zealand and Taiwan, adding to an overseas presence in Singapore, Indonesia and China, with the latter done through a joint venture (JV) involving studios within boutique gyms. 

CEO Selina Bridge says the point of different at KX Pilates is in the quality and personalisation of the workout, focused on "full body, full 50 minutes dynamic reformer Pilates".

"We are 100 per cent focused on a dynamic Pilates workout. Our culture of small continuous improvement, which is the Kaizen philosophy, is very client centric," says Bridge.

"We focus on the trainer being present. There is this big question mark [in the industry] about screens coming out, and even 24/7 'do Pilates on your own', and that's great; it's going to create a different market.

"But for us it's about how do we make sure that the workout is very personalised and real, with the trainer being able to respond to that client, and make that client feel extremely welcome and valued in that space?"

KX Pilates has entered a master franchise agreement with Atsuyuki Tsuchiya, former president of Fast Fitness Japan and a key figure in Japan’s fitness sector.

"We are thrilled to partner with KX Pilates Australia to introduce this dynamic workout to Japan," says Tsuchiya.

"We believe the KX concept, workouts, and the lifestyle that accompanies it are exactly what modern Japanese people need."

Bridge says the approach in Japan will be to "start small and grow".

"We don't go out saying how many studios we are aiming for or what we're even pushing them for. We've got minimum performance expectation because there's no point in taking on a country with no intention to grow it, but our priority is always to make sure we maintain quality above all," she says.

"That's quality of the actual class delivery, and then quality of the franchise partners that they will bring on as well, so it's not a pressured growth but we are very confident in our partner and how KX will grow within the market."

Bridge, a former general manager of Curves Oceania, has led KX since October 2018, joining the company just as it was celebrating the opening of its 50th studio.

The number of Australian locations has more than doubled since then to 105, and she emphasises that founder Aaron Smith - who won the 2019 Australian Young Entrepreneur Award for Fitness - is still "very passionately involved".

"He's the owner and I love that we're privately owned," she says.

"He's very passionate and invested in the business, so I'm not trying to convince a shareholder who's got no connection. He's involved in some decisions, and he's very much empowered me to make them.

"With his wife Andi, they moved up to Noosa about three years ago and she actually opened up a studio with her friend, so she's literally in the business, on the front line, running a successful studio in Noosa."

The move comes as other Australian fitness brands, such as STRONG Pilates and UBX, are also expanding in the Japanese market. But Bridge is not concerned by the competition, and believes the very different offerings of various brands gives consumers better choice and room for clearer segmentation.

Each KX Pilates studio is outfitted with proprietary KXFormers designed in collaboration with industry-leading manufacturers Balanced Body, offering progressive, client-centered workouts in a screen-free environment.