Big Blue Swim School Signs Its First Lease in Indiana

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

The prime location at 13920 Hoard Dr. in Noblesville, IN, in Hamilton Town Center is set to open in spring 2023 and will be the first Big Blue Swim School to open in the state. The new location will be opened and operated by Indianapolis-based franchise partners Gavin and Tara England, who are excited to help children and families achieve the life-changing skill of learning to swim.

“We realized Indianapolis is a very underserved market for swim lessons, which you might not realize unless you’re looking for a vendor for your own kids,” Tara said. “As a parent of three young children, we struggled to find a convenient swim lesson option and often found we would be pigeonholed into scheduling lessons for our kids at different times or the available times just didn’t work for our schedule. Big Blue fills a big need in this area.”

Big Blue’s data-driven real estate selection process incorporates a number of critical criteria during site selection. The franchise puts the customer at the center of its real estate strategy. By making locations easy to find and access, Big Blue makes itself accessible and appealing to parents while also increasing brand awareness.

“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 Hamilton County by living up to our company mission of showing them they can do anything by unlocking their full potential in the water.”

The buildout 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,” which finds brick-and-mortar stores closing as customers shift to online shopping. 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.”

The new Noblesville lease is just the latest phase of an aggressive growth strategy for the franchise, which has already signed agreements for 214 units in 24 states across the country. With a goal of reaching 240 units committed by the end of 2022, the brand is well positioned to be the leader in the learn-to-swim industry.

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.

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 240 pools sold by the end of 2022. 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.