With the same location, equipment, schedule and even the same staff, the fitness club formerly known as Anytime Fitness is hoping to attract back the almost 800 members who originally signed on to the club.What attracted these members was the opportunity to exercise on state of the art equipment anytime during the day or night, hence the 24/7 schedule. What the members did not foresee was the club going bankrupt.”It left a bad taste in people’s mouths,” said Dawn DiMasi, Anytime Fitness’s Group Fitness Director who has now signed on to be the General Manager of Sky Club Fitness 24/7.”The new owner is a good guy. He wants the club run right. He cleaned up the mess and is opening debt free,” DiMasi added.
According to DiMasi and Sky Club Fitness Sales Manager Andre Lopez, while the new owner had tried to work out an agreement to operate as an Anytime Fitness franchise, corporate headquarters tacked on additional fees that made this option cost prohibitive.
The club will operate as an independent club. However, members will receive access to a sister Sky Club in Hoboken, NJ. This club offers a pool and rooftop deck.To lure original and new members, the Sky Club in West Caldwell will offer discount memberships in July and August. The club plans to open its doors either this Friday, July 1 or after the holiday weekend on Tuesday, July 5. DiMasi explains the equipment has been serviced and a cleaning crew swept through the club on Wednesday. A group fitness schedule will be running by Aug. 1, and the club is planning a grand opening in September. Lopez, who has worked as a personal trainer, is hoping to bring back the “family atmosphere” the original gym achieved. Both Lopez and DiMasi say Sky Club is hoping to become involved in community service and volunteer events similar to the Cycle for Survival fundraising Spin event held at Anytime Fitness in 2010. “Everyone in town loved the gym. We want the gym to be run like it was originally planned,” Lopez said, but without the financial meltdown.As for former members, DiMasi said people she has spoken to are willing to come back. One former member, Julianne Maguire, who took full advantage of Anytime Fitness’s off peak hours, did tell Patch she is currently happy exercising at home with a pair of fitness DVD’s and her treadmill, but if the “price is right”, Maguire would consider rejoining the new club.
By Ellen Coughlin, The Patch