Fitstop, the strength and conditioning brand founded in Brisbane, is opening in Houston this month. A four-studio franchise deal with local owner Victor Guo starts on Memorial Drive in the Energy Corridor and makes Texas the brand's third US market, after California and Pennsylvania. Fitstop has seven US locations and more than 170 worldwide.
The detail worth noticing is who signed. According to Fitstop's own account, Guo and general manager Rian Williams looked at six other franchise brands first. Williams helped grow Orangetheory in Houston from one studio to 27. Someone who has already scaled a franchise across this city chose this format, and pointed to its programming, its coaching model and the support behind it.
This is a multi-unit deal (a franchise agreement where one owner commits to open several locations), and it is the kind of commitment franchise brands prize, because an experienced operator is betting on the format more than once.
Why are so many Australian fitness formats expanding overseas?
Because many were designed to be copied. Australasian Leisure Management's review of the trend found the common thread is a model built for replication from the outset: centralised programming, proprietary equipment, branded technology, standard studio design and franchising. A home market of about 27 million people fills up fast, so growth has to come from elsewhere, and a format that runs the same way in Brisbane and Houston can go.
| Brand | Started in | Format | Where it has gone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fitstop | Brisbane | Group strength and conditioning | 170+ locations, 7 in the US, 4 signed for Houston |
| FS8 | Sydney, 2021 | Pilates, Tone and Yoga in one studio | 100 studios in 18 countries by May 2026 |
| Plus Fitness | Australia, owned by Viva Leisure | 24/7 gym | Franchise business in India and wider Asia |
| F45 | Sydney | Functional group training | Global franchise, delisted from the NYSE in 2023 |
FS8 is the fastest example. It opened on Sydney's Northern Beaches in 2021 and reached 100 studios in 18 countries by May 2026, four of them opening in the US that month. BFT, which turned its gym floors into a ticketed competition, is another Australian format running on centrally written programming.
Built to travel is different from built to last
F45 is the warning inside the trend. The Sydney brand went public in 2021 at a $1.4 billion valuation, then delisted from the NYSE in 2023 after its shares fell below a dollar and it fell behind on its filings. A franchisee that once ran 32 F45 studios filed for Chapter 11. FS8 now sits inside FIT House of Brands, the parent company F45 created in 2025. A format that copies easily copies its weaknesses just as easily, and franchisees carry the cost.
Whether a format can travel is decided before the first studio opens. Whether it lasts is decided by the people who run it.
The Run RateWhat it means if you are planning a second location
You do not need overseas ambitions for this to apply. The same test decides whether your second studio feels like your first.
Write the programming down. If the workouts live in the founder's head or one senior coach's notebook, they will not travel across town, let alone to Texas. Structured programming that runs the same everywhere is what Fitstop sold to Houston.
Standardise the room. Equipment list, layout, where the coach stands, what the member sees first. Alpha Fit Club locked equipment and programming across every new site before growing from 20 studios toward 50.
Train coaches to a standard. The member experience should survive a staff change. Formats that export well treat coaching as a system with its own training, so a new hire in a new city delivers the same class.
Look at it the way a buyer would. Williams compared seven brands and picked the one that looked easiest to run well. That is the review your studio will face if you ever license or franchise it.
Australia's exports show that a small home market can build formats the rest of the world buys. The part worth copying happens long before any overseas lease: deciding at studio one that the business has to work without you in the room.