Big Blue Swim School Aims to Leverage Houston’s Prime Real Estate Opportunities and Consumer Demographics For Large-Scale Growth

Since its founding in 2009, Big Blue Swim School has become one of the fastest-growing players in the $3 billion swim school industry. Now, the franchise has big plans to make a splash in one of the nation’s largest markets: Texas. Big Blue Swim School is targeting Houston — specifically Northwest Houston, including the high-priority territories of Katy, Sugarland, Cyprus and Bellaire — for large-scale growth in the immediate future. 

According to Big Blue Swim School Chief Development Officer Scott Thompson, there are currently 14 potential sites for Big Blue pools in the Houston metropolitan market. 

“A lot of families are moving to Houston from all over, but especially the coasts,” said Thompson. “Houston affords the option for a great climate but comparatively lower taxes, so you see this rapid growth. Houston is currently the fourth largest city in the country and features a density of kids two to three times higher than the density of kids in Big Blues hometown of Chicago.”

While most of Big Blue’s competitors primarily serve children aged six months to five years, Big Blue caters to ages six months to 12 years, resulting in a 30-percent increase in the learn-to-swim addressable market, allowing prospective franchise owners to take full advantage of Houston’s population density. 

“As we look to make an impact on the next generation of swimmers, we aren't only hoping to provide them with a vital life skill, we also want children to build a love for swimming,” said Big Blue President and Founder, Chris DeJong. “As we grow in the Houston market, parents will be surprised to experience a swim school atmosphere and approach that they've never seen before."

Big Blue delivers an experience that consistently helps kids learn how to swim and build confidence in the water. The brand’s proprietary curriculum ensures that Big Blue is measuring students’ progress in the ways that help students achieve better results more quickly.

The company’s cloud-based enterprise system, LessonBuddy™, is designed so franchise partners can operate successful pools without needing a daily presence. It also lets parents conveniently schedule lessons and track students’ progress. The brand also utilizes the data collected by LessonBuddy to modify staffing levels. 

Big Blue is able to deliver these high-quality swim lessons while also providing more scheduling options, allowing siblings to swim in the same half-hour window. “Our optimized capacity planning and facility layout make it the most convenient option for the dual working-parent households which are common in Houston,” said Thompson. 

Houston is also perfectly aligned with Big Blue’s technology-driven model. In recent years, Houston has emerged as a growing U.S. city with many families moving to the area, meaning that the time is ripe for leading swim instruction franchise Big Blue to come to the market. Additionally, Houston’s continued metropolitan development translates to opportunities for prime real estate. Big Blue laps the competition in terms of real estate development thanks to a team of expert dealmakers responsible for sourcing high-traffic locations by implementing a proactive, data-driven real estate assessment strategy. 

“Houston offers a high percentage of prime real estate that perfectly fits our required real estate,” said Thompson. “We’ve already completed strategic market planning and validated the market, so we’re ready to go.”

Big Blue’s growth plans include reaching 150 signed units by 2021, and with 79 units already secured, the brand’s differentiators have caught the attention of many multi-unit and semi-absentee franchise partners looking to maximize their time and their capital. Additionally, Big Blue’s strong unit-level economics, turnkey operations and significant leadership support, have quickly established the brand as an impressive player in the fragmented swim lesson franchise segment.

“We want to serve as many communities and families as possible and the Houston markets will allow us to do that,” said Thompson. “We believe families will love watching their kids learn to swim with Big Blue and we are eager to find qualified franchise partners who want to help make that happen.”

Multi-unit franchise opportunities are available for qualified candidates looking for their next big opportunity, and veterans can receive a 10 percent discount on the $80,000 franchise fee. The total investment necessary to begin operation of a new Big Blue Swim School is $2,329,223 to $3,636,998 (refer to item 7 in FDD)" To learn more or inquire about Big Blue Swim School, visit https://www.bigblueswimschool.com/franchising/.