Handelsblatt, 30.01.2015
by Diana Fröhlich

Golf - The offspring is missing

[...] It is not probable that the difficult situation on the golf market will change fundamentally this year: "In Germany, 60 percent of golfers are over 50 years old," says Niels Gronau, managing director of consulting firm edelhelfer. "Younger people are hard to motivate for the sport of golf," says the expert. In the US, an increasing number of golf clubs is closing down. Compared to 2005 - when around 30 million Americans played golf - there are now seven million players and nearly 1,000 courses less. [...]

Handelsblatt, 12.01.2015
by Thomas Mersch und Stefan Merx

Massenbetrieb in der Muckibude

[...] Niels Gronau, Chef des Beratungshauses Die Edelhelfer in Mannheim, hat Konzepte und Margen verglichen. "Vor allem die Discountketten sorgen für Dynamik in der insgesamt weiter wachsenden Branche", sagt er. [...] McFit erzielt laut Edelhelfer-Studie auch die höchsten Umsatzrenditen. Doch massiv drängt Konkurrenz in den Billigmarkt. Etwa FitX, die mit 15 Euro Monatsbeitrag alles unterbieten, oder Ketten wie Fitness-King, Easyfitness, Jumpers und Clever Fit. [...]

Fitness Management International, Issue 04/2014
by Niels Gronau/Gregor Titze

Article: Europe´s fitness market in motion

The portion of fitness club members at total population is increasing in European countries; now 46 million people are already member at a gym. The largest European club operators continue to grow and are often supported in their expansion of financial investors. Also the manufacturers of fitness equipment continue their positive development of the recent past. These and other findings are the result of the current report on the "European Health and Fitness Market", which the European fitness association EuropeActive has published in cooperation with the edelhelfer. The article was published in the current issue of the industry magazine Fitness Management International in Germany, which is available only in German language. [More information on the report]

BODYMEDIA, Issue 04/2014
by Johannes Lößl und Niels Gronau

Article: Controlling in fitness clubs

The authors John Lößl and Niels Gronau focus in their recent article on the topic controlling in fitness clubs. Controlling essentially means the focused planning, management and control of the various areas in a company. Almost all health and fitness club companies deal in their operations already explicitly or implicitly with various aspects of controlling. However, significant differences appear in the understanding and awareness of the controlling measures carried out in practice. The article was published in the current issue of BODY MEDIA in Germany, which is available only in German language. [more]

BODY LIFE, 27.05.2014
by Constantin Wilser

Interview with Niels Gronau

The portion of fitness club members at total population is increasing in European countries; now 46 million people are already member at a gym. The largest European club operatorscontinue to grow and are often supported in their expansion of financial investors. The manufacturers of fitness equipment continue their positive development of the recent past. These and other findings are the result of the current report on the "European Health and Fitness Market", which the European fitness association EuropeActive has published in early May 2014. At FIBO, the leading trade fair for fitness, the industry magazine BODY LIFE conducted an interview with one of the authors Niels Gronau. [more]

Handelsblatt, 30.09.2013
by Thomas Mersch and Stefan Merx

Sweating like a star

[...] Niels Gronau, senior manager of Deloitte consulting and auditing, praises the solidarity between the singer and the fitness professionals: "It's a clever approach to have experts in regional markets as a partner.“International companies bring the business under control. "Fitness is increasingly a global business," said Gronau. In terms of sales, the number one in Europe today is Virgin Active, which was founded by the British entrepreneur Richard Branson. [...] In a Deloitte report on the European fitness market the consultants describe two trends: toward discounted or premium offers. [...] (more)

Die Welt, 29.06.2013
by Steffen Preißler

Small studios against big clubs

The fitness industry in the Hanseatic city is growing with new trends - like Crossfit, eFighting or EMS. Meridian Spa also plans two new locations. 233,000 citizens of Hamburg are already a member of a gym [...]. Most of the 233,000 are members of an owner-managed fitness club such as the Royal Sports Club. But their share of the market moved in favor of the chains during the last years, Niels Gronau, CEO of consulting agency edelhelfer, observed. Their market share is now at 47 percent. Five years ago there were only 35 percent. "Among the chains, there has been a strong growth in recent years. The market leader in Germany McFit has about 1.1 million members," said Gronau. [...] (more)

body LIFE 6/2013

Leading fitness supplier in Europe

At 31. December 2012 McFit is the largest fitness operator by numbers of memberships in Germany, but also in Europe. In the company's sales ranking McFit is only in fifth position. Leader in this category is Virgin Active, which has grown by acquisitions of other operators. Using the number of facilities as a measure, the woman fitness providers Curves International and Mrs. Sporty outpace the competitors completely. The entire fitness industry is currently in a phase of increasing M & A activities, driven by the continued interest from private equity firms. "With the price increase of McFit at the beginning of 2013, and the continuing expansion of the concept, domestic and foreign, will allow the seller in the current financial year a place among the Top-3 operators in terms of sales," expects Niels Gronau, senior manager for the sports business group at Deloitte in Germany . [ ...] (more)

DIE WELT, 05.10.2012
by Martin Greive and Jens Hartman

Reebok wants to get out of the crisis with brachial-fitness

[...] Crossfit is the new trend in the fitness market. Crossfit boxes, this is how the gyms are called in English, are increasing. The Crossfit-makers want to revolutionize the fitness industry with this new type of training. The weakening U.S. sportswear manufacturer Reebok, a subsidiary of the Adidas Group, has even linked his fate with Crossfit. [...] Fitness will continue to boom, that is for sure. But whether Crossfit really succeeds the big breakthrough, it is doubtful. "Functional fitness is booming. Because Crossfit is just the tip of the iceberg," says the sports business expert Niels Gronau of the consulting agency edelhelfer. The types of training diversify and Crossfit is in competition with a number of other forms of training. [...](more)

(Pictures: Reebok)

Frankfurter Rundschau, 04.01.2012
by Daniel Baumann

Everything for the slim line

The fitness industry has put of its negative image and expects for the coming year a strong growth. She benefits mainly from the current social trends. [ ...] Deloitte expert Niels Gronau says: "Many people have a growing demand for integral and high quality training." He excludes that this could be a problem for the discounters, because customers deliberately chose the equipment-based concept of the discounters. "Discounters will continue to grow, even if in the market segment the contest will be harder." Gronau expected that both, the discount as well as a premium supplier with prices starting from 60 Euros per month, will grow. The middle section, which is not really cheap and do not have a very good offer, will be punished. In general, the competition is tougher. Gronau, "It is not as simple as five years ago to open a shop." (more)

(Pictures: Frankfurter Rundschau, ddp)