The owner of a Hixson fitness center aimed at women says his first expansion will go in the North Shore rather than in East Brainerd, and he’s changing up the concept at the downtown site to include men.
“It’s an opportunity that fell into our lap,” said Greg Tibbs, owner of 360 Womens Fitness. “I couldn’t pass it up.”
Mr. Tibbs said his downtown location, called 360 Group Fitness, will go in at 25 Cherokee Blvd. with plans to open May 3. He said he likes the visibility of the 6,900-square-foot site, which is near the artery’s intersection with Manufacturers Road.
“We’ve had a lot of members and potential members say that Hixson is too far to drive for them,” Mr. Tibbs said.
Kim White, who heads the private, nonprofit downtown redevelopment group RiverCity Co., said the North Shore site is convenient to people who both work and live in the central city.
“Look how successful Greenlife Grocery and Two North Shore have been,” she said, citing the nearby downtown grocer and commercial hub.
360 Womens Fitness opened about a year and a half ago in the former Target shopping center near Northgate Mall, and Mr. Tibbs said he plans to keep it just for women. The center is an anchor tenant in the redeveloped space and occupies about 15,000 square feet.
At the planned new facility, Mr. Tibbs said the center will provide Les Mills Group Fitness System programming, which offers pre-choreographed workouts for men and women, as well as personal training.
For the first 100 members at the downtown site, the membership price will be $29.98 per month with no enrollment fee, Mr. Tibbs said.
Mr. Tibbs said 360 Womens Fitness has worked because a lot of women don’t want to go to a co-ed facility.
“We’ve given them a safe, non-intimidating environment and changed their lives,” he said.
But, he said, the downtown location and the new concept there better fits the younger and hipper make-up of the central city community.
Lissa Bankston, group fitness manager at the North Shore site, said the Les Mills programming works for both men and women.
“It offers a doable and obtainable fitness goal,” she said. “It’s really user friendly.”
Mr. Tibbs said Les Mills workouts are offered in 70 countries. He said his center is the first to offer it in Chattanooga. The downtown location will have free parking on Velma Street.
Mr. Tibbs said he still eventually wants to go into East Brainerd. He said that both the Sports Barn and Rush fitness centers have locations there as well as downtown.
At the same time, Mrs. White mentioned the visibility offered by the Cherokee Boulevard location.
“It’s a lot more visible than some of the suburban areas,” she said.