Fitness Clubs: One Industry in Walnut Creek That is Holding Its Own

Despite glimmers of a rebounding economy in Walnut Creek, times are still tough enough that women—and men—will still forgo $500 shoes or put off buying a new car.  But they are not abandoning their memberships to fitness clubs.

Most fitness clubs in Walnut Creek are holding up. Two clubs that opened just before and after the economic crash are thriving, adding up to 1,000 members. And, in a time when new construction has slowed to practically nothing around town, one major project coming down the pipeline is a new 42,000-square-foot 24 Hour Fitness Center, which is proposed to rise at the site of the former concrete batch plant on North Main Street.

The fitness clubs already open are not necessarily going after new members. Rather, they are focused on improving services for existing members. Here's how they are doing it.

Renaissance ClubSport

The 84,000-square-foot Renaissance ClubSport is Walnut Creek's largest fitness facility and offers a wide range of services. ClubSport encompasses a high-end fitness center, spa,  and a boutique hotel, which accommodates business travelers during the week, visitors on the weekend, and even members looking for getaway that is not too far from home  Also on the property is a full-service restaurant, café, 25-meter lap pool and Kids World, which offers onsite child care and recreation programs for young children up through preteens.

At the fitness center, members and guests can take group classes in yoga, Pilates, cycling, cardio, dance and such popular new group exercise programs as boot camp, Tae Bo, Nia and Zumba.

The spacious second-floor workout area features a huge selection of cardio and weight training equipment, an expanded stretching area, and core stability and flexibility training tools. The club invests in keeping its machines up to date.

"Keeping up the quality is key," said Christina Dort, marketing manager at the Renaissance Club Sport.

While membership has grown since the club opened eight years ago, the numbers stopped climbing after the economy crashed, Dort said. But membership levels have stayed consistent, she added.

"People want to feel good about themselves. In fact, we had a couple who lost their jobs but still kept their memberships," said Dort, who has been working for the Club Sport for eight years. 

Club Sport fees start at $132 for a single membership--with a $600 initiation fee—making this club the most expensive in Walnut Creek.

But Dort said this full-service club offers amenities, particularly in the area of entertainment, such as free movie nights by the pool, its version of Drive-In movies.

YogaWorks

The owners of the YogaWorks chain could have been forgiven for wondering if they were overreaching when they opened a new 12,000-square-foot studio in Plaza Escuela in November 2008. The economy had just crashed, Walnut Creek's retailers would be facing one of the worst holiday shopping seasons on record, and unemployment rates would eventually double. 

But the eco-friendly studio has thrived, signing up more than 1,000 members who are happy to commit to a $105 monthly fee. YogaWorks offers more than 85 classes, seven days in week, in yoga and Pilates. There are classes for practitioners of all levels, as well as private training sessions, workshops, retreats, and specialty courses in prenatal yoga and Pilates mat and reformer classes.

"People are stressed out in this economy. They want to relax and feel as if they are on a cloud," said studio manager Rachelle Abreu.

The studio offers members easy parking in the Plaza Escuela garage, locker rooms with showers, and a community lounge with wireless internet service.

"Sometimes our customers bring their lunch and work here," Abreu said.

Walnut Creek Sports and Fitness

This club, tucked off Olympic Boulevard near downtown, has been in the community for more than 30 years, starting out as a racquetball club.

Walnut Creek Sports and Fitness still has four racquetball courts. It also has a fitness floor with weight machines and free weights, a range of cardio machines, and a studio for group fitness classes, sometimes up to one almost every hour. Classes include step, cycling, Nia, kickboxing, yoga and Pilates. There is also a separate studio housing Pilates reformer machines and a 20-meter, three-lane pool where staff teach private lessons or aqua exercise.

The membership is made up of a core of people who live nearby or work in town and who like the friendly, low-key vibe. The average age of members are people in their 40s. Some are parents who use the on-site child care and summer camp programs the club features

The club actually enjoyed a surge in new members in July, with more than 50 joining up. The club offers a flex membership where people only have to pay $10 per use for limited number of visits to the club in a month. Otherwise a regular monthly membership goes for $96, with discounts for family members who add themselves on to an existing membership.

Forma Gym

This downtown club on California Boulevard also opened two years in precarious times. It aimed for a slightly different concept than most clubs. Owner Robert Jackson wanted to provide a private training facility where personal trainers could bring in clients and offer customized training.

But demand grew among potential members who wanted to use Forma Gym's  Olympic-caliber equipment without a personal trainer, so the 28-year-old Jackson opened his memberships to the general public. The membership fee is mid-range, designed for people who don't want to spend more than $100 a month in fees but who are willing to spend more than the rates at clubs that might have inferior equipment and programs

The initiation fee is $198 and the membership fee starts at $79.

Forma Gym boasts of amenities you might not see at other clubs. Members can watch movies in a darkened theater, while doing their treadmill or elliptical workouts—an hour can easily pass by without you realizing it.

Forma Gym also is the only club in Northern California that uses RealRyder, which is not a stationary bike but moves freely, making circuit-training classes more enjoyable.

"We did a lot research and took in everything we thought was good," said Jackson.

Forma Gym has signed up about 1200 members in the past two years. Asked how to succeed in the fitness industry in these challenging economic times, Jackson said knowing the market is key. "You have to find a niche market to weather this economy," Jackson said.