Across much of lower Westchester, gyms are sprouting up faster than the already-saturated exercise market in the county can handle.
The influx of new gyms can be attributed to an increased awareness of health and exercise, which has overcrowded existing ones and forced members to seek treadmills and dumbbells elsewhere.
For Esther Rose, the public relations manager at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP, the lure of Life Time Fitness, a 206,000-square-foot gym with three swimming pools and a health-conscious food court, was too enticing to pass up when it first opened on Harrison”™s Westchester Park Drive in February 2014.
- Life Time Fitness in Harrison. Photo by Evan Fallor
The cost, at roughly $150 per month, was higher than the nearly $90 she was paying per month for her membership at the New York Sports Clubs location on City Place in White Plains. But the cost difference was more than made up for in satisfaction, she said, due to the amenities offered that she could not get at most other gyms. She even bought a membership for her 10-year-old daughter, who takes several classes at the gym on weekends.
“There are so many reasons why I switched,” said Rose, who goes to the fitness center at 5 a.m. most weekday mornings. “Even though it is more expensive, the value is definitely worth it.”
Though it is tough to generalize specific trends within Westchester”™s exercise industry, it appears as though most are shifting toward either budget gyms that include the bare basics in their $10 to $30 monthly memberships or splurging for the amenity-heavy supergyms such as Life Time Fitness, which boasts several thousand members at its Harrison location, according to company officials.
Those in the middle, such as New York Sports Clubs, have not fared well.
Town Sports International Holdings Inc., the owner and operator of New York Sports Clubs and its other sports clubs locations in the Boston, Philadelphia and Washington areas, announced in February its intent to explore a possible sale of the company. In its first-quarter 2015 financial results, Town Sports reported revenue of $111.4 million, but net loss was $12.8 million, and loss per share was 52 cents. Despite the loss, the company added 21,000 members in the first quarter, which it attributed to its lowered prices.
“While this was our largest membership increase in at least five years, we continue to learn and make tactical adjustments to maximize the membership potential of this strategy,” Dan Gallagher, CEO of TSI, said in March.
The company was trimming not just waistlines but also wallets, minus the added amenities that larger gyms offer. Initiation fees for annual memberships could cost more than $100 and monthly dues average nearly as much, depending on the type of plan. According to Town Sports, the publicly traded company lost 1,000 members in the first quarter of 2014.
- A billboard on Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains advertising New York Sports Clubs”™ lowered monthly prices. Photo by Evan Fallor
The company nullified all existing annual memberships in January in an attempt to thwart declining membership but continued charging members their usual monthly dues. Along with the price decreases, the company has pushed an aggressive advertising campaign across the county to promote its $19.95 per month offering.
According to an April 2014 study conducted by The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, more than 62.1 million Americans used one of the 32,150 health clubs nationwide in 2013. Roughly 53 million Americans belonged to a health club, an increase of more than 5 percent from 2012. The industry as a whole saw revenue of $22.4 billion in 2013, up from $21.8 billion in 2012.
Average dues fell during the same time period from $49 to $46. According to the study, dues ranged from $10 at budget health clubs to $100 to $200 at premium locations.
As of December, TSI operated 158 locations in the U.S., 10 of which are New York Sports Clubs locations in Westchester.
One of its main competitors, New Hampshire-based Planet Fitness, operates five gyms in the county. The company is known for its $10 per month memberships and its “judgement-free zone,” which is meant to attract the casual exerciser.
Another option gymgoers have is boutique gyms, which have been popping up in the region at a steady rate. Some cater to yoga, others to Pilates and some to CrossFit, a relatively new but popular fitness company. The often-independently owned gyms can be found throughout more populated areas of the county like White Plains or Yonkers, but also along the Sound Shore and in the Rivertowns.
Dawn Grande, owner of Method Fitness on Main Street in Irvington, has taken a different approach to maintaining a customer base. The boutique studio she operates that specializes in the Lagree Method ”” similar to Pilates ”” has no memberships; gymgoers pay $20 for an initial class and $35 for a single session.
Since opening a year and a half ago, Grande said more than 700 people have come through her gym”™s doors. Her clientele includes a mix of men and women between 25 and 70, all of whom she said enjoy the fact that they get a total body workout in 40 minutes.
“Younger people like but sometimes can”™t afford it and older people like the high-intensity, low-impact workout,” Grande said. “No one wants to work out for an hour anymore.”
- The cafe inside Life Time Fitness in Harrison. Photo courtesy Life Time Fitness
Most of her clients come from the Rivertowns, and many are former patrons of the New York Sports Clubs location in neighboring Dobbs Ferry, she said.
Life Time spokeswoman Natalie Bushaw said the Minnesota-based company with 115 locations across the country strives to provide an all-in-one destination for exercise enthusiasts by providing an array of exercise classes, sports courts and dining options on its campuses. The Harrison location, she said, now has “thousands” of members, but declined to provide an exact figure. There is no waiting list, she said, because of the ample space that can accommodate large crowds.
Its kids academy also caters to parents who don”™t want to have to take their children to separate locations, or who don”™t want to leave their children alone at home when they go to the gym.
“We developed the kids academy because we know how family-oriented Westchester County is,” Bushaw said. “We thought, ”˜How could we create a place to make the family more together?”™”
