With two locations in Kelowna and now Calgary, Realm Fitness is drawing 700 to 800 visits a day as owner Michael Zvonik expands its recovery, retail and event-driven model.

Realm Fitness has grown to approximately 2,500 members since opening its 44,000-square-foot Calgary facility in spring 2025, giving owner Michael Zvonik early evidence that a large, independently operated gym can compete on community, experience and frequency of use.

The gym is registering between 700 and 800 visits on an average day, according to Zvonik. That is equivalent to roughly 28 to 32 percent of Realm’s total membership base passing through the facility daily.

Realm is also signing up approximately 100 to 120 new members each month. Zvonik said the larger membership base is contributing to increased merchandise sales, adding another source of revenue beyond monthly dues.

The figures are notable in an industry where many operators rely on large membership rolls but expect only a small portion of customers to use their facilities regularly.

For Zvonik, the objective is different.

“I genuinely want this to be the best part of your day,” he said.

Realm positions the gym as a social gathering place

Realm operates from a roughly 44,000-square-foot former industrial building with its second location at 1390 17 Avenue SE, near Calgary’s Inglewood neighbourhood.

The scale allows Zvonik to combine a large training floor with retail, supplements, recovery services, independent trainers, and social events and spaces designed for fitness content.

His vision was to recreate the community atmosphere of smaller independent gyms inside a much larger facility.

Zvonik believes gyms are becoming a social “third space” for consumers who spend much of their time between home and work. For some younger customers, he said, training with friends has taken on part of the social role once filled by bars and nightclubs.

Canadian consumer data offers some support for the shift in social habits. Statistics Canada has reported four consecutive annual declines in alcohol volumes through the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

That does not mean gyms are directly replacing nightlife. It does suggest that some consumers are changing how they spend their leisure time, with fitness, wellness and group activities taking a larger role.

Realm has leaned into that behaviour.

Groups of members gather before and after workouts. Fitness creators film content throughout the building. Athletes, trainers and visiting personalities bring their own audiences into the facility.

The gym’s size helps those groups coexist, according to Zvonik. A person filming with a tripod can usually find space without interfering with another member’s workout.

There is still a clear rule.

“The lifting comes first” Zvonik said.

Realm permits filming, but members are expected to respect the people using the facility primarily to train. Zvonik said content creation is welcome as long as it remains secondary to the gym’s main purpose.

Membership model avoids contracts and promotional pricing

Realm charges $119.99 per month for a standard membership, positioning the facility above many low-cost and conventional gyms in the Calgary market.

Zvonik said the higher price reflects the building, equipment, amenities and operating model.

The company does not use long-term membership contracts, enrolment fees, cancellation fees or recurring promotional discounts. Zvonik said he does not want a new customer receiving a lower price than a member who supported the business from the beginning.

Early members remain locked into their original rate.

The straightforward pricing strategy is also intended to reduce one of the most common sources of frustration in the fitness industry: complicated membership agreements and unexpected charges.

Zvonik said customers should be able to pay for the service, use it and leave if it no longer meets their needs.

“If you don’t want to be here, don’t be here,” he said. “I don’t want to keep you stuck here.”

Realm supplements the core membership with services such as towel access, shower products and areas where members can prepare food or coffee. The facility also includes a supplement store and sells Realm-branded merchandise.

Zvonik said membership growth is now translating into stronger merchandise activity, although he did not provide sales figures.

Industrial conversion created room to differentiate

Realm’s Calgary location was previously used as a steel plant and industrial warehouse.

The building’s size gave Zvonik the opportunity to create a facility that would have been difficult to fit into a conventional retail unit. It also came with substantial conversion work.

The property needed new building systems to support its change of use. Zvonik said the work included a new fire hydrant, an eight-inch water line, sprinklers, HVAC equipment, drainage lines, electrical transformers and interior construction.

Work began around September, with occupancy secured near the end of the following May.

Zvonik, who has a background in construction and development, was directly involved in the project. He said he and his network of tradespeople completed much of the work, allowing him to control costs and make design changes during construction.

He also installed lights, fans and other building components himself.

The conversion offers a useful example for the commercial real estate industry. Large fitness operators can absorb older industrial properties that may not suit conventional retail, office or warehouse tenants. Those conversions can also require major investments in water, ventilation, life-safety systems, parking and interior infrastructure.

Realm currently leases the building.

Zvonik has said he would eventually like to purchase the property and the industrial building across the street. The additional property could support more parking, equipment storage, merchandise operations and future expansion.

Parking is already becoming a constraint despite the size of the existing lot, he said.

Recovery and wellness facilities remain under construction

Realm is developing a 3,600-square-foot Nordic spa inside the Calgary property.

The spa is under construction and is not yet open.

Current plans include a steam room, sauna, hot tub, cold plunge and hydrotherapy equipment. Zvonik expects the space to accommodate approximately 20 people at a time through a booking system, with visits likely limited to two-hour sessions.

The relatively low capacity is intentional. Zvonik wants the spa to feel spacious even though individual features, including the sauna and steam room, will be built to hold larger groups.

Nurses’ offices and a tanning salon are also under development. Medical, testing and tanning services are not currently available.

Zvonik has discussed eventually offering services such as blood testing and DEXA body-composition scans through qualified providers. Those remain future plans and will depend on the completion of the spaces and the involvement of licensed operators.

The additions could broaden Realm’s revenue base by allowing members to combine training, recovery, retail purchases and other appointments within one property.

They would also move the business closer to a hybrid fitness and wellness model, where the gym floor serves as one part of a larger customer relationship.

Realm also functions as an equipment showroom

Zvonik is involved in gym-equipment sales, and the Calgary facility serves as a working showroom.

Gym owners can visit Realm, try different machines and evaluate equipment before purchasing it for their own facilities.

That arrangement gives Realm another commercial function. The equipment is used by members while also helping Zvonik generate business-to-business sales.

It also helps explain why he is cautious about expanding Realm into every available market.

Zvonik said he would prefer to sell equipment to independent gym owners and help them grow than open competing Realm locations in their cities. He cited Edmonton as an example of a market where he knows several operators and does not want to compete directly with them.

The approach is unusual in a sector where successful operators are often encouraged to franchise quickly.

Zvonik said he does not want Realm to become a conventional commercial chain. Rapid expansion could reduce the time and attention available for the Calgary facility and weaken the culture that has helped attract members.

Realm also has a location in Kelowna. Zvonik said that operation developed through a partnership with a local gym owner after the facility transitioned away from its previous brand.

He has also teased a separate gym project in Ottawa involving other partners. The Ottawa project is not a Realm Fitness location, and Zvonik said he could not disclose further details.

Events extend the brand beyond memberships

Realm uses events and entertainment to reach people outside the traditional fitness audience.

Before construction was completed, Zvonik invited drivers to bring drift cars into the empty industrial building. The resulting content demonstrated the size of the property and generated attention before members began using the space.

Realm has since hosted car shows, anniversary events and live music.

Zvonik said the events are partly about community and partly about marketing. His approach is influenced by brands that build an audience through experiences and culture, with the product appearing as part of that larger identity.

The facility’s industrial setting gives Realm room to host activities that would be difficult inside a conventional shopping centre gym.

For retail and real estate operators, that event strategy matters because it can generate visits beyond normal workout patterns. It also gives sponsors, apparel brands, food operators and fitness personalities reasons to participate in the business.

Zvonik said future events may be organized with relatively little lead time, based on opportunities and partnerships.

Realm grows as Canadian fitness spending recovers

Realm’s early growth comes as Canada’s fitness industry continues to recover from the disruption of the pandemic.

Statistics Canada reported that operating revenue for Canadian fitness and recreational sports centres increased 14.9 per cent in 2024 to $5.8 billion. Industry expenses rose 11.9 per cent, while the operating profit margin increased to 8.3 per cent.

The figures indicate that Canadians are again spending heavily on gyms, recreation and in-person fitness.

Realm is positioned at the premium end of that market, although it does not follow the traditional luxury-club model. Its proposition centres on scale, specialized equipment, social culture, recovery facilities and high member usage.

Zvonik said the Calgary facility was profitable during its first month of operation. He expects the project to recover its initial investment within three years of opening.

He did not disclose the total capital investment, revenue or operating profit.

The 2,500-member base and 700 to 800 daily visits provide a clearer measure of the facility’s traction. The next test will be whether Realm can maintain that level of participation as membership continues to grow.

Looking ahead

Zvonik’s immediate focus remains the Calgary facility.

The Nordic spa, nursing spaces and tanning salon are still being built. Equipment sales, merchandise and events are continuing to develop alongside membership revenue.

The potential acquisition of the existing building and neighbouring property could give Realm more control over its long-term expansion, but Zvonik has not announced a purchase agreement.

His larger ambition is to make Realm one of the most recognized gyms in the world without turning it into a standardized chain.

That creates a difficult balance.

The gym’s appeal is closely tied to its scale, local relationships, industrial building and Zvonik’s direct involvement. Those qualities have helped Realm grow to 2,500 members, but they may also make the concept difficult to reproduce.

For now, the Calgary location shows that a fitness facility can function as a daily-use business, social gathering place, equipment showroom, retail platform and event venue within the same space.

The model gives members several reasons to visit and several reasons to spend once they arrive.

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