CR Fitness Signs 25-Unit Yoga Joint Franchise Expansion Deal

Largest Crunch Fitness Franchisee Adds Emerging Boutique Fitness Brand to Its Portfolio

One of the largest operators in the U.S. fitness franchise sector is expanding beyond its core brand for the first time.

CR Fitness Holdings, the largest Crunch Fitness franchisee in the country, has signed a multi-unit development agreement to open 25 Yoga Joint studios across Florida and the Dallas, Texas market.

The agreement represents an important milestone for both companies. CR Fitness is bringing significant multi-unit operating experience to the emerging boutique fitness concept, while Yoga Joint gains a franchise partner with an established infrastructure for developing and managing fitness businesses at scale.

CR Fitness currently operates 98 Crunch Fitness clubs and serves more than one million members across its markets. Its portfolio stretches across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, with additional expansion underway.

For Yoga Joint, the agreement substantially increases its development pipeline and introduces the brand to Texas as it moves beyond its Florida roots.

Yoga Joint Moves Into Its Next Stage of Franchise Growth

Founded in Fort Lauderdale in 2010 by Paige Held, Yoga Joint has developed a fitness model that combines heated yoga with strength and conditioning workouts.

The company began franchising in 2022 and has grown to approximately 20 operating studios in Florida while building a development pipeline in several additional states.

Rather than positioning itself solely as a traditional yoga studio, Yoga Joint combines two primary workout formats.

FLOW is an all-levels, vinyasa-inspired class focused on movement, balance, flexibility and strength. FIIT combines low-impact cardio with resistance and strength exercises. Both formats are delivered in infrared-heated studio environments.

That broader approach allows the business to compete for customers looking for yoga as well as consumers interested in boutique strength and fitness experiences.

For franchise operators, the recurring membership model also creates an opportunity to build predictable revenue from a regular customer base.

Strong Unit Economics Attracted an Experienced Operator

CR Fitness CEO Tony Scrimale has indicated that the company evaluates opportunities outside its existing business based on several factors, including unit-level performance, differentiation and whether the operating model can be replicated across multiple locations.

Yoga Joint's financial performance played an important role in that evaluation.

According to company figures, Yoga Joint studios operating throughout the full 2024 calendar year generated approximately $1.84 million in average unit volume. More established studios have reportedly surpassed $2.4 million in annual sales.

Those figures are particularly significant because CR Fitness is not a first-time franchise investor experimenting with a new industry.

The company has spent years developing one of the largest Crunch Fitness portfolios in the country. Its decision to add another fitness franchise suggests a broader portfolio strategy built around concepts that can benefit from its existing experience in site selection, membership sales, staffing, operations and multi-unit development.

CR Fitness Has Significant Capital Behind Its Expansion

The Yoga Joint deal comes during a period of aggressive expansion for CR Fitness.

In 2025, investment firm Sixth Street committed $350 million in strategic capital to CR Fitness to support the operator's long-term growth plans. North Castle Partners, which had previously invested in the company, remained a major shareholder.

CR Fitness has outlined plans to add more than 100 Crunch Fitness clubs over five years.

Adding Yoga Joint creates another avenue for growth while allowing the operator to participate in a different segment of the fitness industry.

Traditional high-value, low-price gyms and boutique studios typically serve different consumer occasions. A large-format Crunch club can provide broad access to equipment, classes and training, while Yoga Joint centers its experience around instructor-led classes and a specialized studio environment.

Yoga Joint Is Building a National Franchise Pipeline

CR Fitness is not Yoga Joint's only expansion initiative.

The brand has announced franchise development activity in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Georgia and Massachusetts in addition to its continuing Florida growth and planned Texas entry.

Earlier in 2026, Yoga Joint also secured $5.5 million in growth capital from a group of investors with experience across fitness, private equity, real estate and consumer businesses.

Part of that expansion is being led by former Barry's executive Adam Shane, who is developing Yoga Joint across New York City and surrounding markets.

The combination of outside investment and experienced multi-unit franchise partners gives Yoga Joint significantly more infrastructure for national expansion than it had as a primarily Florida-based studio business.

A Significant Deal for an Emerging Fitness Franchise

Signing a 25-unit agreement with an established operator can change the growth trajectory of a developing franchise system.

CR Fitness brings operational scale, access to real estate relationships, fitness industry experience and an existing management platform. Yoga Joint brings a differentiated boutique concept that CR Fitness believes can be replicated across multiple markets.

For Yoga Joint, the challenge now shifts from signing development agreements to executing them.

Opening 25 studios while simultaneously supporting franchise development in several additional states will require strong site selection, instructor recruitment, training, marketing and operating consistency.

If the brand can maintain its customer experience and unit-level economics while its footprint expands, the CR Fitness partnership could become an important step in Yoga Joint's transition from a regional Florida fitness company into a national boutique fitness franchise.

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