Right now, it’s a nondescript storefront off a busy interaction in Highlands Ranch. But Carlos and Brooke Aguilera have a plan to bring something new to the Denver suburb.
“We wanted to give everybody everything under one roof — and on one membership,” Brooke Aguilera said.
She and her husband, who live in Castle Rock, are planting the first Fitness Premier location in Colorado inside a 20,000-square-foot space at 2680 E. County Line Road within The Promenade Shopping Center.
In addition to the typical gym offerings, the facility will have dedicated workspace for third-party health and wellness providers, such as an acupuncturist, nutritionist and chiropractor. Between six and 10 providers will have access to the space on a rotating basis, offering on-site services to gym members.
Instead of paying rent, the providers will give a chunk of their sales to Fitness Premier. All members of the gym will get discounts for using the services on-site.
“That is our niche. That is everything our gym is trying to be, is a community-driven, one-stop shop,” Carlos Aguilera said.
The Aguileras were looking to become franchisees when they came across Fitness Premier, having looked at everything from frozen yogurt spots to bars. The gym chain started out in Illinois and has locations in Florida, Indiana and Georgia. The Aguileras are contracted to open three locations in Colorado.
Both Carlos and Brooke have business backgrounds. She has worked as an executive assistant for top executives at Oracle and Fortinet, as well as Chipotle founder Steve Ells, according to her LinkedIn profile. He’s in building material sales.
The couple expect to spend $1.4 million building out the space, financed by a Small Business Administration loan, and hire 10 employees.
The provider space will be on top of two gyms inside the building. One gym will be more approachable for beginners, with treadmills, standard machines and free weights. The other will be more comprehensive, offering squat racks, powerlifting equipment and artificial turf on which to push sleds or roll tires.
There will also be a 2,000-square-foot space for group fitness, for Zumba sessions and boxing classes. After a good workout, members can enjoy steam showers in the locker room or unwind in the 2,000-square-foot “wellness suite” featuring massage chairs, a sauna, cold locker and more.
There will even be a BioCharger machine inside, a $20,000 device that emits different types of electromagnetic energy. Only a dozen BioChargers are in commercial use currently in the Denver metro area, according to the product’s website.
Fitness Premier memberships will start at $50 per month, which allows access to the gym spaces. It’s $85 a month to also use the wellness suite and $150 for one-on-one training that comes with a fitness plan and access to the Kids Club, where members’ children can play while their parents work out.
“We want to bring the professionalism and the elevation of a lifetime [fitness] … at a price that any family could afford,” Brooke Aguilera said.
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