FARGO — Planet Fitness is building muscle in Fargo.
Local franchise Baseline Fitness will soon open its third Planet Fitness location in Fargo-Moorhead. The facility is a two-story, more than 30,000-square-foot facility located in south Fargo that is packed with state-of-the-art fitness equipment and amenities.
Scott Michrzak, a North Dakota State University basketball alumnus, is the CEO of Baseline Fitness. He said the goal is to have the Fargo facility, located at 5080 38th St. S., open between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Founded in 2009, Baseline has 101 Planet Fitness locations in nine states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, Colorado and California, with more than 1,500 employees. has grown up to.
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If all goes well, the Fargo-based company will close out the year with 105 Planet Fitness outlets (two more are completed in the Twin Cities suburbs of Edina and Eden Prairie, and another A store is scheduled to be completed in Denver, Colorado).
“Long term, our vision is to exceed 150 companies in three years and possibly double the size of the company in the next five years,” Majkrzak said.
The former Bison guard is excited about the company’s growth.
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“We’re moving quickly. It’s been fun and exciting, but we’re not done yet,” Michrzak said in a recent interview at Baseline’s South Fargo office.
“We’re very excited about it. This is a state-of-the-art facility like nothing we’ve ever built,” he said. “This is a real sense of pride and joy for what we’ve built so far, and we’re really happy to be able to offer it to the community that we’ve been a part of for so many years.”
Our state-of-the-art Fargo club offers a variety of cardio and strength training equipment. There will also be a large black card spa with massage chairs, hydromassage beds and loungers, tanning room, red light therapy and ‘wellness pods’.
Baseline Fitness opened its first Planet Fitness in 2009 at 4325 13th Ave. S., formerly Royal Fork Buffet. About a year ago, the gym moved to a larger space at 5100 14th Ave. S. in Fargo. Moorhead Gym is located at 800 Holiday Drive, near the intersection of Interstate 94 and Eighth Street South.
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The Forum spoke with Mike Kurzak at the company’s South Fargo headquarters on Tuesday, Dec. 3, to hear about his personal journey in business and as head of Baseline Fitness.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I’m from here. I was born in Fargo and raised in West Fargo. I attended West Fargo High School. I attended and played basketball at NDSU in the late 90s/early 2000s. So it’s definitely rooted and embedded in the community, which is great. I worked briefly in California for a few years in the mid-2000s. We now live in Horace. Our kids go to Horace High School and we love it here.
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Q: Is Planet Fitness your first franchise?
A: No, my first franchise was actually Pancheros (Mexican Grill) with my brother (Steve Magirczak). I had just gotten into the business in 2007. But at the time, I was working in real estate and construction/development. So that’s why we started franchising…Originally my vision was to get into the real estate side and then find an operating concept that could fit into real estate. So, Pancheros came in first place.
(Mikrzak, who is also a silent partner with his brother in the Fargo McAllister deli franchise, said he plans to add a third franchise.)
“We, along with Steve and another partner, entered the Crisp & Green brand from Minneapolis.”
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Q: Do you feel there is a lot of demand for places like Planet Fitness?
A: “Yes, I think there is a huge demand for health and wellness in general right now and it is available in multiple places. There are a lot of great concepts. Our goal is to provide a workout environment that makes it easy for anyone to join in, whether you’re a beginner or someone who’s been into fitness for years. We want to create a clean and comfortable atmosphere that everyone can enjoy.”
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Q: Fitness has been a lifelong passion for you, right?
A: Sports is a lifelong passion for me. So as a by-product of sports comes fitness.
In the world of business, I realized that making deals is the closest thing to competitive sports. I don’t think you can replicate that. Working in business energizes me from a competitive standpoint, but it also keeps me active and doing my best to maintain a balance between health and wellness.
Q: What is the key to Baseline Fitness’ growth?
A: I think it’s a great concept. The idea of providing fitness at a high value and low price is great. I loved this model from the beginning. Secondly, it is thanks to our wonderful people that we have been able to grow as a company as much as we have. We have great people on our team. … For us to grow as much as we have, we need really good people, in addition to the support of our financial and private equity partners. And we have a great team that we’ve built over the years. ”
Q: What is your business philosophy?
A: Surround yourself with people who have similar ethics and values. I don’t think anything is more important than that. I think this requires competitiveness and a mindset. And you have to be willing to fail quickly.
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Q: What does failfast mean?
A: Many times you will try something and encounter a road that doesn’t work, and instead of banging your head against the door over and over trying to get it to work, you need to realize that: Verify that it wasn’t and move on to the next thing.
I have failed at many things and thought many bad ideas. And I think I learned a while ago that if that doesn’t work, you need to move on to other things. …You can’t run through a brick wall.
Q: What is the key to expanding Planet Fitness? Private equity?
A: Private equity gives us the ability to grow and expand. But I think more importantly, you need to have a clear and concise vision of how you want to grow.
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For us, we decided on a growth strategy a while ago.
You have to work with your partners, you have to work with your team. …We’ve really accomplished that through a combination of organic growth and acquisitive growth. (Baseline Fitness acquired 40 Planet Fitness stores by acquiring eight other franchisees. It also built 61 gyms.)
We like that kind of mix. As we continue to grow and expand, our growth will consist of a combination of acquisitions and organic growth. … We are definitely one of the largest (franchise groups).
Q: What are some important lessons you learned along the way?
A: You need to surround yourself with good people who can achieve size and scale. And we need to actively invest in those people.
And probably most of all for me, I have to realize that I’m not doing very well when it comes to my team. There are people around me who do their jobs better than me. …I think that’s the biggest key. It’s about surrounding yourself with good people who do things better than you.
