KX Pilates eyes global expansion as it celebrates 100 studios

Australian brand KX Pilates (KX) has opened the doors to 100 reformer pilates studios, making it the first Australian brand to achieve this milestone.

Founded by fitness entrepreneur Aaron Smith, KX Pilates opened its first studio in Melbourne in 2010 and now spans across 100 studios in Australia and the broader Asia Pacific region, including New Zealand, Indonesia, China and Taiwan, and is soon to launch in Singapore. 

KX Pilates combines traditional reformer pilates principles with progressive techniques to curate full-body workouts and has a mission to bring reformer pilates into mainstream fitness. It counts six international studios and 94 Australian-based studios in its franchised network, with Noosa taking the title as the 100th location. 

In 2023, a further 15 new studios are on the cards, and 2024 is forecasted to be bigger than ever for the global business. New South Wales is set to get seven new KX locations, followed by five in Victoria, and one each in Queensland, Australian Capital Territory and South Australia.

KX had over 170,000 unique clients last year and 36,000 unique clients this month. In the last 12 months, KX has had over 2 million check-ins to its classes and ran over 255,000 classes.

The scaling business is aiming for over $55 million in group revenue and over 10% growth in group revenue, focusing on its franchise partners to generate more revenue through new and repeat clients.  

Founder Aaron Smith described reaching the 100 studio milestone as “surreal”. 

“It’s just really about spreading the message of changing people’s lives for the better through continuous improvement through our workouts and the effect that we really have on people’s lives is a great feeling,” he said in a statement. 

“I had the pleasure of opening the 100th studio in Noosa alongside my wife Andi. To pause and reflect on what KX means to us and our entire community was incredible.

The future of KX will be driven by a product-led strategy, said Smith.

Source: Supplied

“In terms of what’s next, we’re really looking at education and opportunities to innovate the product. The KXFormer — our KX exclusive proprietary Reformer bed — formed part of this,” he added. 

“We’re continually looking to evolve and the KXFormer offers our clients a more challenging workout — and continuing to deliver on our brand promise is why clients can trust that we’re delivering a product that rewards both positive change physically and mentally.”  

KX has 52 unique franchise ownership structures, with some franchisees owning multiple studios and some studios having multiple owners. Within its network, there are more than 500 trainers that service its 100 studios.

KX Pilates CEO Selina Bridge said it had been “a joy to see the hard work of our franchise partners and trainers come to life”. 

“We run 5,000 classes per week, so to be able to invite more communities locally and abroad to experience the benefits of our reformer pilates is incredibly rewarding,” she said in the same statement. 

“This year we’re sharpening our focus on training and education to ensure our franchise partners have the tools and resources to support the KX Trainers in delivering our world-class dynamic workout at scale.

“All our franchise partners have a passion for pilates, health and wellbeing, and the KX brand.”