Interview 016 – Jean-François Schreiber
Jean-François Schreiber - Bloc Session, France
Could you tell us about yourself, where you are based, and what your role involves?
I'm Jean-François Schreiber, co-founder of Bloc Session (alongside Matthieu Lupo), with our roots in the beautiful southern town of La Ciotat, where we opened our first climbing gym. I'm currently CEO of the group. While Matthieu runs the day to day operations, my role is primarily strategic: I focus on developing and structuring our tools and operations for our network in alignment with our unique and lean business model. That means making sure the group can scale sustainably both direct and through Franchise while staying true to our identity.
How would you describe the current state of the climbing industry in France, and how do you see it evolving in the coming years?
The industry is at a pivotal moment. After a decade of rapid expansion (over 20%/year) and easy capital, we’re now entering a more mature phase. Growth is still there-climbing gym visits were up by 5.1% in early 2025 thanks to new gyms opening - but it's slower, and profitability is no longer optional.
We’re shifting from a euphoric “build fast” era to one where execution, financial discipline, and strategic thinking matter. Operators now need to focus on fundamentals: profitable operations, debt management, capex discipline, and robust HR practices.
That said, the long-term outlook is still very promising. France remains largely under-equipped, especially outside major urban areas. The market is far from saturated, and the demand is growing, albeit more rationally than before.
What are some obvious areas of weakness in the French climbing gym market, and how can they be addressed?
We're still a young and fragmented industry, often driven by intuition more than structured strategies. Many operators are chasing large, premium gyms in major cities-even to the point of opening right next to existing facilities-rather than adapting to underserved smaller cities or rural areas.
Financing is also becoming a real hurdle. Despite healthy attendance, climbing remains a sector where few players have proven profitability. That creates hesitation from banks and investors-especially in a context of rising interest rates.
We need more tailored business models, particularly for smaller markets, and a stronger track record of financial performance to regain credibility with financiers.
Bloc Session is on an impressive run of gym openings in 2025. What has been your growth strategy, and what have been your key assets and challenges?
From day one, we went a different route. While many competitors focused on premium flagship gyms in big cities, we focused on smaller towns. That meant designing a lean, efficient business model-because we had no choice! We simply didn’t have the capital to go big.
Ironically, that constraint turned into our biggest advantage. Now, with nearly 30 gyms in France, we’re uniquely positioned to scale into the many under-equipped areas others overlook. Our model is optimized for local adaptability, profitability, and self-financed growth.
The main challenge has been to maintain cohesion across a dispersed network while staying true to our DNA. But that’s also part of the fun.
How does Bloc Session stand out from other French gym operators, large or small?
In terms of revenue, we may be smaller than some premium operators because our gyms are focused exclusively on bouldering, and we don’t operate saunas or restaurants... But in terms of footprint, we’re among the leading groups-with 29 gyms across France.
Most importantly, we’re profitable. And that’s not so common in our industry. Our financial stability allows us to grow at our own pace, without relying on external capital.
With Bloc Session's economy of scale, what do you think of vertically integrating the supply side of gyms into the business; do you have an internally developed POS/CRM system, an in-house workshop for holds or volumes repair, in-house gym designer, etc?
Despite our scale, we’ve deliberately chosen not to develop an in-house workshop for climbing hold production. Although we design internally close to 100% of our gyms - while subcontracting the execution and engineering to the special constructors,- we believe shaping holds is a deeply creative process—and creativity thrives through diversity. By collaborating with a wide range of shapers and brands, we tap into a richer ecosystem of ideas and styles than we could ever foster internally.
Conversely, we’ve internalized many of our core management tools to ensure they are perfectly aligned with our operational needs. Our custom-built information system supports everything from scheduling and finance to HR—and even includes our own bouldering app. This tailored approach gives us the agility and responsiveness needed to manage nearly 30 locations with a lean central team. It’s a key part of our operational efficiency.
What advice would you give to a new climbing gym business that has just signed their first property?
Size your investment and operations wisely. Don’t overbuild - sooner or later, you'll need to justify your capex with returns. Spend smart, not big. And above all: invest in your people. Once your gym opens, HR becomes your biggest ongoing cost-and your biggest asset.
On that note, I’ve just released version 2 of a book dedicated to this exact topic: Le Petit Livre Blanc des Salles d’Escalade. It’s available on Amazon and filled with practical insights for new gym owners. Of course, execution is still up to you.
How can people learn more about Bloc Session or get in touch?
The easiest way is to visit www.blocsession.com, where you can find our gym locations and learn more about our philosophy. You can also follow us on Instagram or LinkedIn-or just come climb with us!
