Big Blue Swim School Signs First Lease in New Jersey

Big Blue Swim School, one of the nation’s fastest-growing swim school franchises, has signed a lease for a new store, securing its first location in New Jersey.

The prime 10,000-square-foot location at Paramus Crossroads shopping center at 305 Route 17, is set to open in the spring of 2022. The new location will be owned and operated by Manhattan-based franchise partners and self-proclaimed “fitness junkies” Chris Burden, a lawyer and business consultant, and Penelope Clark, a registered dietitian nutritionist and nutrition communications counselor. Together, they are excited to help children achieve the life-changing skill of learning to swim.

“We are very excited about this investment,” Burden said. “We are both swimmers and know how much joy, enrichment, and confidence this essential life skill brings to a child. The Big Blue Swim School executive team has been great to work with, and their approach to swim instruction is designed not only to teach skills but also to empower kids in all they do by building confidence in the water.”

The mission resonated with Burden and Clark. “As parents, we understand the challenges of scheduling family activities. Learning about Big Blue’s technology and innovative instructional model, we knew the offering was laps ahead of the competition,” Burden said. “As franchisees, we also appreciate Big Blue’s turnkey approach that allows us to become operational quickly and achieve a faster ROI.”

Big Blue’s data-driven site selection process considers a number of important criteria during site selection. In doing so, Big Blue puts their customers, families in need of swim lessons, at the center of their real estate strategy. By making their locations easy to find and access, parents are able to provide their kids with the vital safety skill of learning to swim with far greater ease than ever before. This real estate strategy maximizes a parent’s overall convenience while also increasing brand awareness. The team identified Paramus as an ideal place for a Big Blue Swim School.

“The team has worked hard to seek out locations and create an experience that makes it easy for parents and families to add swim lessons into their schedule,” said Chris DeJong, Big Blue’s founder and president. “We build our schools with comfort and accessibility in mind, and we are looking forward to making a difference in the lives of children in New Jersey by living up to our company mission of showing them they can do anything by unlocking their full potential in the water.”

The new Paramus lease is just the latest phase of an aggressive growth strategy for the franchise, which has already signed agreements for 161 units in 22 states across the country. With a goal of reaching 170 units committed by the end of 2021, the brand is well positioned to be the leader in the learn-to-swim industry.

“The region has a high population of young families living in communities near or within commuting distance of New York City,” said Burden. Burden and Clark are working with Big Blue’s development team to use market knowledge and data-driven real estate assessment to identify prime real estate in the area. After the Paramus location opens in 2022, the couple will begin developing additional territories in the region, including Clifton and Union.

The buildout of each location will be supervised by Big Blue’s in-house construction management team, which has a consistent record of building pools on time and within budget. The approach allows former retail space to be reborn as modern, comfortable facilities, setting Big Blue apart from its competition and adding value to the property.

Big Blue often fills vacancies created as a result of “the Amazon effect,” in which retailers reduce or close the number of physical store locations as customers increasingly prefer to shop online. Big Blue’s presence allows landlords to fill large, unused spaces, while also bringing customers with purchasing power to their properties. ?

“The landlord community likes what we’re bringing to their properties because we're not dependent upon making goods and selling them,” said Big Blue CEO Scott Sanders. “We are a unique service model that can’t be replicated at home or be replaced by technology. What we do simply can’t be delivered on someone’s doorstep.”

Big Blue is currently scouting new locations across the country, including multiple locations in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, California, New Jersey, New York, and South Carolina, among other major metropolitan areas.

About Big Blue Swim School

Big Blue Swim School was founded in 2009 by competitive swimmer Chris DeJong. The first location opened in Wilmette, Illinois, followed by four additional Chicagoland schools. In 2017, Level 5 Capital Partners acquired a stake in the brand, and pools are now open in Chicago, Atlanta, Denver and Northern Virginia. Big Blue is currently growing through franchising with plans to have a minimum of 170 pools sold by the end of 2021. Big Blue Swim School's real estate expertise, strong brand, proprietary technology, and leadership support, coupled with its best-in-class consumer offerings, position its franchise partners for long-term success. To learn more about franchise opportunities with Big Blue Swim School, visit http://YourBigMomentStartsHere.com.