Snap Fitness expands

BY SUE STOCK - STAFF WRITER
The News-Observer

After years of gyms and fitness centers that look like Disney amusement parks, one fitness chain is banking on a scaled-back model to drive growth.

Minnesota-based Snap Fitness is expanding in this market and others with its 24-hour centers, which offer cardio- and strength-training equipment but none of the extras found at larger centers.

"I came from the big-box fitness world running full-service clubs," President and founder Peter Taunton said. "That's what I owned, and I did that for 20-some-odd years. I just realized that in my full-service clubs, it was not the fitness classes and the climbing walls that people used the most. They wanted to come in, do some cardio and lift some weights and leave."

Customers of Snap Fitness have no contract and pay roughly $35 a month. The company has more than 1,000 stores in 47 states.

In the Triangle, there are five clubs already open in North Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Wendell, Pittsboro and Cary. In addition, there are sites under development at 3751 Holloway St. in Durham and 1000 S. Main St. in Holly Springs.

Overall, the company thinks the area could probably eventually have 20 or 30 clubs.

"We have 100 stores in Minnesota," Taunton said. "It's typically about a three-mile driving distance between our clubs."