Koko FitClub LLC has opened four franchise locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the past year and plans to open a total of at least 25 locations in DFW in the next four to five years.

Koko FitClub LLC has opened four franchise locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the past year and plans to open a total of at least 25 locations in DFW in the next four to five years. 

The Rockland, Mass.-based fitness company has locations in Frisco, Plano, Allen and Keller and is developing Austin sites with the help of The Weitzman Group. 

“We would like to have well over 150 clubs in Texas over the next five years,” said Fred LaSelva, director of real estate, construction and site design. 

Not only has the company seen growth in Texas, but Koko FitClub also saw strong expansion this year nationwide. There are 34 Koko locations in 22 states and two countries. The company expects to open 44 more locations by the end of the year, LaSelva said. 

The Weitzman Group’s David Zoller and Beau Barkerding are exclusively responsible for the lease negotiations for Koko FitClubs in Texas. 

Zoller said the company was referred to them through the Retail Brokers Network, of which the Weitzman Group is a member. 

“We helped corporate develop their area strategy,” Barkerding said. “They came to us and said, ‘How many stores can Dallas support?’”

The Dallas-based commercial real estate company has secured five leases for Koko so far and three locations are in lease negotiations, Barkerding said. Weitzman estimates six new locations will open in 2012. 

The spaces for Koko FitClubs are unlike other gyms because they require only 1,800 to 2,100 square feet, LaSelva said. Barkerding said leases are running in the mid- to high $20s per square foot for the spaces they’ve secured so far. 

The concept is built around the Koko Smartraining System, a software hooked up to every machine in the gym, making sure the user does the right exercise at the right pace. The entire workout is performed on one machine. Each gym has about six to seven machines. 

The software works like a video game. The user of the machine must do the exercise while keeping up with the graphic on the personalized screen in front of them. The machine is then able to calculate calories burned and whether the user should increase or decrease weight.

“It’s like having a personal trainer, but it’s not a person. It’s actually better because our software can calculate more data than a human being can,” said Jeremy Harris, who, along with his wife, Jeneé, signed on to develop 25 locations in the DFW area.

The Harrises own three of the four DFW locations and have secured the rights to Dallas and Collin counties. At the Harrises’ three locations, there are more than 1,000 members. 

The initial investment to open a franchise is $100,000 to $300,000, LaSelva said, but Koko requires that franchisees open at least two locations at the same time. 

Memberships at Koko FitClubs, which are open 24/7, run around $69 a month. 

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