A physical-therapy franchise has plans to soon open seven locations here, including two next week.
Florida-based FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Centers is set to open its first Charlotte-area locations on April 25 at 287 Williamson Road in Mooresville and at 928 Copperfield Blvd. NE in Concord. Area representatives Scott Thayer and Robert Hub introduced the FYZICAL franchise to this market. The brand has hundreds of clinics nationwide, including in the Asheville and Raleigh-Durham areas.
Thayer and Hub, friends for more than 20 years, decided to invest in FYZICAL, as both were looking for their next steps. Thayer had a long career in consumer goods, including at Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) working with franchise owners. Hub spent decades in the construction industry.
"(FYZICAL) kind of fit all the different aspects of what we were looking for — being able to add value to the communities that we're going to be doing business in that are underserved, and along the way, we've got a big brand that has a huge presence and a record of success throughout the country," Thayer said.
Thayer's and Hub's wives are also in health care. For Hub, watching his mother's experiences as a kidney dialysis transplant patient adds additional meaning to the work.
FYZICAL Therapy & Balance offers standard physical-therapy services, with a core focus on treating balance and vestibular health issues. Health-care providers often opt for a quick fix for patients without addressing the underlying issue, Hub said. For example, a hip-surgery patient may leave the hospital in one piece, but the vertigo that caused the fall is not treated.
Each clinic has four to 10 employees, including client-care specialists, physical therapists and physician liaisons. A clinic typically starts with one physical therapist and grows based on the need, Thayer said. He estimates FYZICAL could bring 200 jobs to the Charlotte metro over the next five to seven years. The long-term goal is to add more than 10 other locations here, he said.
The franchise is big on one-on-one treatment. Its physical therapists each have a maximum of 12 to 15 patients per day, compared to as many as 25 at larger systems, Hub said. Employees are also excited to work in new facilities, he noted.
"We viewed this as an opportunity to build a proven brand in a large marketplace that we feel lacks the level of care for the specific areas that we really focus on," Thayer said. "We know based on the analytics that we've done that this city can handle, can absorb, 20 of our clinics. ... There may be opportunities for us to take this concept to the Triad area, which is also open, maybe to Statesville, maybe to Hickory."
Besides Mooresville and Concord, other clinics are scheduled to open in Ballantyne and Pineville in June, followed by an Indian Trail location in July. Offices in Harrisburg and Belmont are earlier in the planning stage. Thayer and Hub work with multiple sub-franchisees in the market.
Thayer estimated it takes $125,000 to $250,000 to open a clinic, along with the population-based price they paid to establish the franchise here. He and Hub will soon look in the SouthPark area and continue to build out in north Mecklenburg, where they live. Fort Mill and Rock Hill are other options. Thayer and Hub are looking for existing spaces, preferably between 1,800 and 2,400 square feet.
