9Round Closes Out a Strong 2019 with a Grand Opening in Spain, Its 20th Country

9Round Franchising has announced the opening of a new gym in Barcelona, its inaugural studio in Spain and 20th overseas market. The new gym in Barcelona opened just before the new year.

"Along with our minority partner Lift Brands, the organization leading 9Round development across Europe, we eagerly awaited the introduction of our fitness model to the people of Spain," said 9Round Founder and CEO Shannon Hudson in a prepared statement. "9Round's successful opening in Barcelona was the 'cherry on top' to an incredibly impressive year overall for our brand."

In 2019, 9Round Franchising celebrated 104 grand openings, 31 of them outside of the U.S. and Canada. International agreements finalized in 2019 saw openings in Singapore, Guatemala, Ecuador, Northern Ireland, and now Spain.

In addition, 9Round finalized agreements in 2019 for future U.S. development domestically in Vermont and internationally in Colombia, Qatar, Indonesia, and Vietnam. All of these new agreements include plans to have their first studios open before the end of 2020. Other 2019 highlights included the introduction of new fitness equipment; adding a new general counsel and director of fitness programming; and inclusion in several top industry rankings.

"Ending this past year on the high note of expanding our international roster to 20 countries marks a special milestone for our brand, setting the tone for what we anticipate will be another remarkable year of growth in 2020," said Hudson.

Founded in 2008 by professional kickboxer Hudson and his wife, Heather, 9Round is a specialized fitness center offering a 30-minute, full-body circuit workout. There are nearly 800 locations open and operating in 42 states and in 20 countries including Canada, Costa Rica, Australia, Argentina, Guatemala, India, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Ecuador, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

For a profile of 9Round founder Shannon Hudson from our Franchise Update magazine, click here.