Fitness Trend Grows in the Berkshires

Fitness trend grows in the Berkshires
By Tony Dobrowolski, Berkshire Eagle Staff
Article Last Updated: 09/14/2008 07:35:07 AM EDT

Sunday, September 14PITTSFIELD
Gyms the size of nightclubs. Rows of treadmills equipped with their own television sets. Twenty-four-hour service. Pizza nights.
Say hello to the new face of fitness in the Berkshires, where health clubs operated by three national chains recently opened in a market that traditionally has been serviced by locally owned facilities.

Butterfly Life, a women's-only chain of health clubs based in California, opened its first Massachusetts franchise, in Pittsfield, on Feb. 1. It was followed by Retro Fitness of Manalapan, N.J., which opened a club in Pittsfield in May. Then came Planet Fitness of Dover, N.H., which opened clubs in Pittsfield in July and in North Adams earlier this month.
In Pittsfield, Retro Fitness and Planet Fitness are in different shopping centers on opposite sides of Merrill Road. Those two clubs, plus three others — Butterfly Life, Body Works and one of Pittsfield's two Curves for Women franchises — are less than a mile apart in the Coltsville section of the city.
Planet Fitness co-owner John Tucker said his proximity to Retro Fitness doesn't bother him. Tucker also is a partner in the North Adams Planet Fitness
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club.
"It doesn't really matter," said Tucker, a Belchertown resident who owns eight Planet Fitness franchises in three states. "When you see a CVS across the street, you see a Walgreens. There's enough to go around."
Twelve facilities in Berkshire County fit the description of health clubs or gymnasiums, in addition to more community-oriented, multi-purpose facilities such as the Berkshire South Community Center in Great Barrington and the Pittsfield and North Adams YMCAs.
With all the competition, can the large health-club chains survive in Berkshire County? Some members of the county's health community have their doubts.
"I think chains like that work out very, very well in the larger metro areas," said Mario DeMartino, who has run a physical therapy business, which includes a small workout facility, in Pittsfield for 46 years. "I think the mom and pop gyms work better in the rural areas. Pittsfield is not a big urban area like New York City or Albany."
DeMartino said he believes that interest in the new facilities is high because they've just opened.
"They've got a big blip right now," he said. "I'd like to see what happens a year from now."
Tucker, who co-owns five other Planet Fitness clubs in Western Massachusetts, refers to Berkshire County as an "untapped market." He said that if three or four other national chains had been operating here when he decided to explore the Berkshires, he probably wouldn't have come.
David M. Rooney, president of the Berkshire Economic Development Corporation, said the addition of the new health clubs is good for the county because the fitness chains see a "market opportunity" here. But he said he isn't sure how long these facilities will last.
Regardless, Rooney said, the competition is good because it creates opportunities for entrepreneurs to see if the market will grow.
Another plus is the number of jobs created by the new facilities. Among the newest ones in the county, Retro Fitness has hired 14 employees, while Planet Fitness has between 10 and 12 each at its Pittsfield and North Adams clubs. (At Butterfly Life, owner Carleen Duquette is the sole employee.)
Demographic survey
Before February, the only national chain operating in Berkshire County was Curves International of Waco, Texas, a women's-only franchise that has two clubs in Pittsfield and one apiece in Adams, Great Barrington and Lee.
John Gaudreault, one of the four owners of Pittsfield's Retro Fitness franchise, said his firm did an extensive demographic survey before coming to the Berkshires in May. The survey included determining the population within a one-, three-, five-, and seven-mile radius of the proposed location in the Shops at Unkamet Brook.
According to the International Health, Racquet & Sports Association, a Boston-based not-for-profit organization that monitors the health-club industry, travel time is an important factor in determining health-club location. In the suburbs, 80 to 90 percent of health-club members live within a 12- to 15-minute drive of their facility, according to the IHRSA.
Becky Slick of Cheshire belonged to the Pittsfield Family YMCA before deciding to join Retro Fitness.
"It's close to my house," Slick said. "I go to school, work, and have a child. I wanted to come here four or five times a week without it being a pain."
Massachusetts is a growing market for health clubs. According to the IHRSA, the number of clubs statewide increased by 82 percent, from 458 to 833, between 1996 and 2007. An average of 19.2 percent of the state's population held a health-club membership between 2005 and 2007.
"People have become more aware of their personal health," said Jim Ramondetta, the owner of Berkshire Nautilus in Pittsfield, which has been in business since 1989. "Most insurers offer reimbursements for health-club memberships. They're not into giving away money, but in the long term it saves them money."
Berkshire Nautilus, which has 20,000 square feet on two floors, has experienced a decrease in membership since Planet Fitness and Retro Fitness opened, according to Ramondetta.
"They've given people another choice," he said. "I think any time that competitive pie is split more ways, all the existing businesses are affected."
Linda Procopio-Messana, the owner of the Lenox Fitness Center & Spa, said her club hasn't lost membership.
"We haven't been hurt at all," she said.
Individual membership rates at Berkshire County health clubs and gyms range from $10 a month to $708 a year, although prices vary because facilities frequently institute special enrollment fees to attract new members.
Planet Fitness and Retro Fitness are less expensive to join than the older gyms, and have more amenities. Retro Fitness has small satellite television sets on each treadmill. The facility also has a juice bar and tanning booths, and offers free personal training with all new memberships. In addition, there is a theater room where patrons can watch a movie while they work out.
"It makes the time go by fast," Slick said, referring to the theater room. "Before you know it all of your cardio is done."
Tom Knapp of Pittsfield said he switched from Berkshire Nautilus to Retro Fitness solely because of the tanning booths.
"The tanning pushed it over the top," he said. "I lost the whirlpool and steam room, and I got the tanning."
Planet Fitness counters with pizza nights on the first Monday of every month, along with bagel mornings on the first Tuesday. The clubs have massage service in addition to tanning, and are open 24 hours a day Monday through Thursday.
Kim Rocca, the regional manager for Planet Fitness' Western Massachusetts clubs, said the firm introduced around-the-clock hours to appeal to people who work odd shifts, such as police officers and firefighters. All-night attendance is higher where Planet Fitness is more established, but is still catching on in Pittsfield, she said.
"It takes awhile," Rocca said.
'Judgment free zone'
Inside the North Adams Planet Fitness is a sign that describes the club as a "judgment free zone." The idea is for each club to be a non-intimidating environment designed to make patrons comfortable when they work out. Signs also ask patrons to refrain from making noise when they lift weights.
"We don't cater to bodybuilders, just general fitness," Rocca said.
However, neither Planet Fitness nor Retro Fitness has exercise classes, activities that are the trademarks of established gyms.
Berkshire Nautilus features personal training with licensed professionals, Body Works has an aerobics room, and the Lenox Fitness Center & Spa is the only county gym that carries the officially certified "spinning" course, a form of bicycle exercise, Procopio-Messana said.
Several local gyms have yoga classes, saunas or spas. Berkshire West Athletic Club, the Pittsfield Family YMCA, and the Berkshire South Community Center have swimming pools. Curves and Butterfly Life feature programs specifically designed toward total fitness for women.
Local health club owners say they have a family atmosphere that the newer gyms can't match.
"I think we stay competitive by doing what we're doing, which is offering people the freedom and flexibility to do what they want," said Glenn Grillon, who owns Body Works in Pittsfield with his wife, Tanya. "You can come in and work out in an atmosphere that's familiar. Everyone's like family here."
Lee resident Bart Collins agreed. He said he joined Lenox Fitness Center & Spa 18 months ago because it was close to home, and he knew everyone who worked out there.
"Most of the people are nice and polite, and they know your name when you walk in," Collins said.
"Price isn't everything."
To reach Tony Dobrowolski: tdobrowolski@berkshireeagle.com, (413) 496-6224.