HP gets in Shape for Polish expansion
Shape Fitness Clubs, part of the international Holmes Place Group, has opened its first facility in Poland, in Warsaw's Galeria Mokotów. Holmes Place Group has over 100 fitness centers in Europe, Israel and the United States. The Shape Fitness premises in Galeria Mokotów stretches over 1,700 sqm and consists of a fitness studio, a spinning studio and two halls, one for aerobics classes and the other for recreational exercises, such as yoga and Pilates.
Ilan Shapira, country manager for Holmes Place Poland, said that Shape Fitness adds a new category to Poland's fitness-club market, called energy fitness.
Martyna Wojciechowska, a journalist and explorer, has become an honorary member - the club's first. Wojciechowska, who was named Shape's ambassador in Poland, will also take part in its promotion campaign.
Holmes Place was established in 1980 and its first club opened in London's Chelsea. Nowadays, the company owns two types of outlets; Holmes Place, an exclusive spa studio, and Shape, a chain of fitness clubs addressed to the middle class.
The company, whose first Eastern European club opened two years ago in Prague, plans to open another outlet in the Arkadia shopping mall and in Warsaw's Hilton hotel, which will be established under the Holmes Place brand.
The Central European expansion of Holmes Place is financed by the company and private investors such as Czech's Top Venture and Edmund de Rothschild Opportunity. The company plans to invest EUR 8 (zł.31.8) million in Poland in 2006.
