RIZAP's chocoZAP opens its largest-ever store, a three-floor standalone building, in Malaysia

RIZAP Group said its convenience-gym chain chocoZAP opened chocoZAP SS15 in Subang Jaya, Selangor, on October 1 — a three-floor, standalone building of about 735 square metres (222 tsubo) that the company called its largest-ever store format, according to a release dated October 1.

The building houses free weights on half racks, shower rooms, a Pilates studio and private phone booths — each, RIZAP said, chocoZAP's first appearance of that facility outside Japan — alongside a co-working corner, eight karaoke rooms, billiards and darts, board games, self-service beauty equipment, EMS and massage chairs, and a laundry. Membership runs from RM80 to register and RM198 a month, with an opening offer through November 5 waiving the registration fee and the first month's charge.

RIZAP described the store as a "service laboratory," built to test concepts it can apply to both its domestic and overseas chains rather than a one-off overseas flagship. The company said it is targeting up to 150 overseas chocoZAP stores by March 2027, building on its existing presence in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia; as of August 14 it operated 2,056 chocoZAP stores worldwide with 1.167 million members.

Calling the format a laboratory rather than a flagship is the detail that matters here. RIZAP built Japan's largest convenience-gym chain on small, low-cost, unstaffed boxes bolted into existing buildings; a standalone, multi-floor property with a Pilates studio and a co-working corner is a different real-estate and staffing bet entirely. Testing it in Malaysia first, rather than in Tokyo, lets RIZAP read overseas demand for the upsell before committing the bigger-footprint, higher-rent version to its home market, so whatever works in Subang Jaya is the likeliest template for chocoZAP's next format at home, not just abroad.