Hampton, N.H. — On Dec. 12, 2022, Planet Fitness, Inc. appointed Edward Hymes as its new president and chief operating officer, reporting directly to CEO Chris Rondeau. Hymes will join the brand in January and be responsible for driving both the day-to-day business and longer-term strategic growth of the company, with overall leadership and accountability of U.S. and international franchise operations and development, equipment sales and corporate stores, in addition to both the technology and legal functions.
“Edward is a seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience including identifying, developing and operating domestic and international retail and e-commerce businesses for global companies,” says Rondeau. “We believe his skillset and franchise leadership will be instrumental in helping to strategically accelerate our business growth through existing and new channels, and we are thrilled to welcome him to our executive team.”
Most recently, Hymes served as president and chief executive officer of Jiffy Lube International, a wholly owned, indirect subsidiary of Shell Oil Company with 2,040 U.S. franchise locations and 160 licensees in Canada. Hymes began working at Shell in 2001. Hymes started his career at Kmart Corporation, where he worked his way up the ranks starting as an hourly store team member and entered management post-university. Over 15 years, he held multiple store operations positions with P&L responsibility.
Founded in 1992 in Dover, N.H., Planet Fitness is one of the largest and fastest-growing franchisors and operators of fitness centers in the United States by number of members and locations. As of September 30, 2022, Planet Fitness had more than 16.6 million members and 2,353 stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, Panama, Mexico and Australia.
SOURCE: Planet Fitness, Inc.