CWA Blog Archive-Gym Owners & Indoor Climbing's Boom Part 2

Gym Owners & Indoor Climbing's Boom Part 2

Pdf Summary

Christopher Oshinski's second installment on industry profitability confronts a striking data gap: despite the impressive array of industry data available, there's no clear picture of the industry's total revenue or profitability. As booming growth continues, the industry will need to innovate and adapt, and as customers see more gym options, attracting, building, and maintaining a member base becomes increasingly critical. The article names a specific blind spot with a memorable phrase: the Wage Elephant in the room, the glaringly absent data on wages. Oshinski argues this data point will grow more significant as gyms increasingly compete for the best job candidates in an environment of professionalization. Without knowing what the industry actually pays, operators can't benchmark competitively, and that opacity becomes a liability as the labor market tightens. The core message centers on retention and its financial stakes. Keeping employees affects the bottom line in more ways than one. Building on earlier discussions of employee recognition and strong workplace culture as keys to a happy, productive workforce, Oshinski points to robust onboarding, growth opportunities, and quality leadership as best practices for retention. He addresses a common assumption directly: while industries like retail and hospitality are expected to have high turnover, the climbing industry's commonalities with those sectors don't have to be identical. In other words, gyms shouldn't accept high turnover as inevitable just because adjacent service industries do. Written for owners and senior management, the piece frames the profitability question around people. The throughline is that the industry's boom raises the stakes on both data transparency and employee retention. Gyms competing in a growing, professionalizing market need to understand wages and invest in keeping staff, because in an environment of more options and fiercer hiring competition, retention and competitive pay directly protect profitability.

Asset Caption

Christopher Oshinski's second profitability installment flags the "Wage Elephant", the glaring absence of industry wage data, which will matter more as gyms compete for talent. He argues retention directly affects the bottom line and that climbing gyms needn't accept the high turnover of retail and hospitality as inevitable.