JIMS continues to grow within Colruyt Group and opens brand-new gym in Kuurne

Monday, October 24, 2022

A year and a half after gym chain JIMS was acquired by Colruyt Group, a brand-new club will open in Kuurne on Monday 24 October. This gym will have a completely new look and feel, includes an outdoor gym, healthy smart fridges, while it also offers a new premium formula. JIMS is set on making a healthy lifestyle accessible to everyone and at all stages of life. Besides sports, the gym chain also focuses on the importance of nutritional habits, a healthy mind, stress relief and the importance of sleep. JIMS is also actively committed to inclusion, and to this end it has entered into a partnership with the Special Olympics Belgium team. The team is currently preparing for the 2023 summer games, together with JIMS.

Unique look and focus on health in the broad sense

JIMS has added a new fitness club in West-Flanders, in addition to gyms in Ostend, Bruges and Kortrijk. The new JIMS club in Kuurne, on the Kortrijk ring road, opened in a festive mood, in the presence of the local alderman for the economy Bram Deloof and Jan Deprez, who is in charge of sport. The Colruyt Group site with a Bike Republic, Dreamland, Dreambaby and Colruyt Lowest Prices shop, is also close by. So for gym chain JIMS, which has been part of Colruyt Group since April 2021, it was a logical place to open one of their latest "flagship" gyms.

Pieterjan Nuitten, general manager of JIMS explains passionately: "When the premises at Ringlaan 16 became available, we did not hesitate for a second. For us, this was an ideal place to continue our expansion; we are aiming for 50 to 60 clubs in the long run. By the way, our new gym in Kuurne is the first we have opened since we rebranded - and you can see that in the spaces, which are made to look extra smart. For example, we have two large terraces where club members can work out outdoors with a view of Kuurne and Kortrijk, a very nice finishing touch to this building. We are not only proud of the appearance, the business also responds even better to the needs of our customers. It includes individual training facilities, while plenty of group classes are also organised. Finally, we also offer a new premium formula here, where we integrate a new type of subscription within our standard fitness areas. Members with this new subscription can go wild in the boxing studio or join our body and mind classes."

The body and mind studio at the Kuurne branch fits seamlessly with the strategy JIMS is pursuing in its gyms. The fitness specialist is focusing more than ever on health in the broad sense of the word. “Due to the Covid crisis, we noticed an increased focus on preventive healthcare and the importance of a balanced diet and sufficient exercise in the past two years. We want to move with our customers through their different stages of life, from children to pregnant women or injury prevention. We Move With You is therefore also our new slogan," concludes Nuitten.The JIMS club in Kuurne provides, in addition to its ​ recently introduced smart, healthy food vending machines and nutrition counselling also target group-oriented counselling for e.g. pre- and post-natal sports and adult counselling to grow old in a healthy way. Through individual assessments with full body scans, (training) schemes are fully tailored to the member’s needs. This targeted coaching is an essential part of JIMS fitness clubs.

Partnership with Special Olympics Belgium in the context of inclusion

JIMS operates a total of 28 fitness clubs in larger cities in Belgium and Luxembourg. A successful acquisition in the middle of the lockdown period and a new look and feel created new opportunities. The focus is now on connecting employees and members within the "new" JIMS. The fitness chain is known for its warm and people-oriented approach, making sure everyone feels at home in the club. A recent partnership that will help consolidate JIMS' pursuit of connection: a collaboration with Special Olympics Belgium.

Special Olympics Belgium shares many of the same values we also endorse at JIMS. Togetherness, accessibility and care are key. JIMS clubs are clearly accessible to all, give members the opportunity to connect with each other, and Special Olympics Belgium has been committed to exactly that inclusion for years. “The fact that the JIMS clubs are a real community and they have a very personal approach immediately appealed to us,” An Caers, CEO of Special Olympics Belgium, enthuses. “We want to blur the distinction between people with disabilities and those without as much as possible to promote togetherness. The objective is inclusion, the means is sport. Sport should absolutely be at the centre of people's lives if they want it, even with a disability. Our delegation of 88 athletes will again represent Belgium at the International Summer Games in 2023. That core group of athletes, including their coaches, will actively train at JIMS,” Caers concludes. The cooperation with Special Olympics Belgium will certainly be further deepened in the future, to also start creating explicit connections between JIMS members and Special Olympics athletes.