Vinny Sansone founded The Edge Fitness Clubs in 1988, growing it into a 40+ location brand by emphasizing culture over corporate strategy
For Vinny Sansone, the old phrase “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life” is undoubtedly true.
Sansone, whose dream since middle school has been to own a gym, founded The Edge Fitness Clubs back in 1988 in Connecticut. As the brand’s president, he now runs 43 high-value, low-price (HVLP) gyms and counting with locations in nine states across the Northeast and Midwest.
The Edge has been able to not just stay afloat but thrive as a mid-sized gym brand in an era where large chains are driving out smaller operators across the country. For Sansone, The Edge’s sustained success comes down to one thing: culture.
He believes The Edge offers the best member and employee experience of any gym or health club in the world – and he believes his members and employees would tell you the same thing, whether they’re in Connecticut or Michigan.
Sansone sat down with Athletech News to discuss the art and science of scaling culture at an HVLP gym brand, trace the evolution of the gym industry since the 80s’ and predict where the industry is heading in the post-COVID era.
The following conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Athletech News: You’ve been into fitness since a very young age. Can you tell us about your background and why you decided to start The Edge Fitness Clubs back in 1988?
Vinny Sansone: It’s easiest to start at the beginning. Like any athlete, I worked out growing up. One time, we were lifting weights in my friend Danny’s basement. We were in our summer going to eighth grade, and we wrote down, “What do you want to do with your life?” I wrote, “I want to own my own gym.”
Back then, there weren’t many gyms around; it just wasn’t a thing to do. But fitness is my calling. Just like people are called to be a doctor, fireman, nurse, or whatever profession they have a passion for, I was called to go into the gym business. In college, I worked at two different gyms, working my way up to manager because I knew that when I got out of college, I wanted to open my own. I always give credit to my dad and my wife, because after I graduated, they pushed me to follow my dreams, which became a reality when we opened our first club.
ATN: You’ve been able to keep that dream alive by growing The Edge to over 40 locations in nine states. What’s been the key to growing the brand over the years?
VS: We always put the member first. I think our company has grown because of the roots we dug back then – we were always about giving members the best experience. People come into our clubs from their jobs; they might not have had a good day, or something’s going wrong in their business or personal life. But when they come into our club, it’s their way of letting go of all that baggage. It’s our job to deliver the best possible experience.
ATN: The low-price gym market has become very competitive over the last decade or so, with large franchise brands expanding at breakneck speed. How does The Edge differentiate itself from HVLP competitors?
VS: Culture is everything. We have a saying that culture eats strategy for breakfast. The Edge is known throughout the industry as having great culture because we’re passionate about what we do. And it’s not just me, it’s our whole team. We can’t have a bad day because our members might be having a bad day. Culture sets the tone for every decision we make; it’s the backbone of our company.
Do we have great equipment, great amenities, up-to-date clubs and all the latest trends for things like group exercise, yoga and pilates? Yes, we have that. But that’s just a box with equipment in it. What makes us special is our culture and our people. Our clubs aren’t just gyms, they’re communities. To me, the gym – or health club – is one of the few places you can attend by yourself and meet like-minded people. Most people don’t go out to dinner alone, or go on vacation alone. I can’t tell you how many people have met their significant other during a group fitness class or on our workout floor.
ATN: Culture is notoriously hard to scale. How have you been able to scale The Edge’s unique culture as you’ve expanded across the country?
VS: You scale it through the people you work with, who then branch out and open those other locations. They have to have that same passion and that same love. We ask people who come to work for us, “What’s your Why?” “Why do you want to do this?” If you go up and down our organization, a lot of our employees have been in other industries, but they’ve felt this calling. They love fitness because they’re able to help change people’s lives.
Initially, we recruited family and friends because I knew I could trust them to deliver that passion and that experience that’s at the core of who we are. Today, we really think of all of our employees as family. I think that has resonated with a lot of our employees – and a lot of our members. Even though we’re big, we’re not just a nameless, faceless corporation.
ATN: Is that why The Edge has opted to stay corporate-owned rather than franchise?
VS: When I first opened my first club, we were our own brand, but we then converted to a Gold’s Gym franchisee in the 90s. Back then, Gold’s Gym was magic, and we grew. But we noticed there were inconsistencies between different franchisees and how they operated their clubs. As a franchisor, you’re only as good as what your franchisees deliver. I’ve been in thousands of health clubs. There are some really great (franchise) chains, and there are chains that aren’t up to the same standard. So we went back to having our own brand because we wanted to deliver a very consistent product for our employees and members.
ATN: The Edge doesn’t franchise, but you’re still in growth mode. What are your expansion goals in the years ahead?
VS: I think about this all the time. We’re going to continue to build out the Northeast, as well as the other markets that we’re currently in – we developed something early on that’s now become commonplace, called “clustering,” which is when you have a membership at one club, and you can use it at multiple clubs. We’re going to continue to add clubs to our clusters.
We’re also looking at some new markets. I don’t want to announce anything yet, but we have 43 clubs today, and we’ve talked about ramping this up to 100 over the coming years.
ATN: You’ve been in the gym industry for around four decades now, including the early days of the ’80s and ’90s. How has the gym industry evolved over those years?
VS: Everything comes full circle. When I opened my first gym, the people who worked out were either athletes, bodybuilders or powerlifters. The workout floor was hardcore: weights, plate-loaded equipment and very little cardio. That’s really where the “gym” started when you think back to Gold’s Gym and Venice.
As the 90s came, more people started to understand the importance of exercise and the gym business went mainstream. A lot more females started to come in, and we started seeing things like group exercise, babysitting, a lot more selectorized equipment and cardio equipment, and not as many free weights.
Today, we’re seeing a return to more free weight and plate-loaded equipment on the workout floor – things like hack squats, power squats, bilateral leg presses and hip thrusts. Those are making a huge comeback now because males and females are now on the workout floor lifting heavy weights, and doing exercises like deadlifts and squats because the data and the science are supporting that. I love it.
ATN: What changed to bring old-school strength training back to the forefront in modern gyms, and what does this mean for the future of the industry?
VS: To me, the pandemic was the dividing line. We used to have to convince people they should be working out. The new consumer coming in today knows they should be working out, and they’re armed with the latest data and trends showing that you need to exercise, lift weights, eat right and sleep right.
The challenge our industry is now faced with is that the consumer of today is different from the consumer of the past. Equipment matters, and equipment brands matter. When they come in, they’re not coming in because you have the lowest price or because you’re running some special. They’re coming in because they want to exercise;. So when this new consumer comes in to check out your club, they’re asking, “Do you have what I want?”