KX pilates has opened a new studio in Carina and plans a major growth push into Queensland

The young entrepreneur behind Australia’s largest pilates group has relocated his family to Queensland as he ramps up plans to expand his empire to 150 studios.

AUSTRALIA’s largest pilates franchise has launched a new studio in Brisbane’s southside with plans to kickstart a new growth phase in Queensland.

KX Pilates opened its new venture in Carina on Saturday which will be the 11th company studio while there are another 70 franchises across Australia, 10 in China and one on Indonesia.

Aaron Smith, 38, who founded the company in 2010 in Melbourne, said they have been in Queensland for about six years and Carina will be their sixth studio.

“Our focus is a big push for more growth up in Queensland,” he said.

“When we want to grow a state we will open a corporate studio first to really get that buzz and vibe and show prospective franchisees that we’re putting our money where or mouth is.”

Mr Smith started his career as a personal trainer in Melbourne before heading overseas in the early 2000s in search of the latest fitness innovations.

In London he came across a dynamic style of pilates which he ended up bringing back to Australia with his own twist — a combination of traditional pilates with the strengthening and toning aspects of circuit training.

In February 2020 KX pilates celebrated 10 years in business and was on track for $25m annual turnover pre Covid.

However, revenues plunged during lockdown when he was forced to close all studios sparking a pivot to adapt the KX experience from in-studio to an online offer, accessed through an app, including on-demand workouts and live classes with trainers.

KX pilates founder Aaron Smith. PICTURE: Julian Kingma

Mr Smith, who with his wife and three children recently moved to the Sunshine Coast, stepped down as CEO more than three years ago to focus on overall brand strategy, innovation, and international expansion.

“We plan to have up to 150 studios over the next three to five years,” he said.

“People are still a bit iffy about training but we hope in a couple of months things will get back to more normality.”

Mr Smith said the franchise model was a natural fit for fitness businesses and all franchisees were either trainers or clients

“The franchise model works because the natural evolution of a trainer. They want their own businesses at the end of the day,” he said.

“Most trainers are great at what they do but they have no idea about business and the franchise model works well for them.

“On the flip side you have clients who absolutely love this style of pilates, love the brand and also want their own studios. So while they may have the business skills, they don’t have the training skills and we provide that support to them,”