Business Q&A: Planet Fitness CEO Reflects On Successful Business Model

NEWINGTON - When Planet Fitness founders Mike and Mark Grondahl purchased a failing gold's Gym in Dover in the summer of 1992, they were just looking to get into the gym business, not revolutionize the industry. The next year, they hired Chris Rondeau, a recent University of New Hampshire graduate who rose through the ranks to become a partner in 2003.

In January, after a majority stake in the franchising company was purchased by a private equity firm, the Grondahl brothers stepped down from day-to-day operations, and Rondeau was named CEO.

Along with the Grondahls, he was a driving force behind the 20-year evolution of one of the best-known national brands to originate in New Hampshire, now with 670 locations nationwide.