New owners, keep old name at Northgate Health Club

Northgate Health Club New owners, keep old name at Northgate Health Club
A longtime Rochester health club is getting an upgrade under new owners as it returns to its old name.

When Dan and Ronaele Hoffman took over Northgate Fitness and Wellness Center in November, one of the first things they did was ask employees and clients about the name.

Northgate Health Club

“Employees preferred the old name of Northgate Health Club. That’s what people call it in the community, so we decided to change it back to Northgate Health Club,” said Dan Hoffman.

Besides returning the 47-year-old center to its original name, the Hoffmans plan to update all areas of the club at 1112 Seventh St. NW in the Northgate Plaza.

“We’ve already made improvements in the free weights room and there’s a lot more to come,” he said.

Northgate Health Club has a team of 30 employees on staff.

The Hoffmans bought the club from Prow Co., which owns the shopping center. The idea of buying it came up as they were outfitting a health club in their other property, the Grand Meadow Business Center.

“We starting looking at it. Pretty soon we decided the culture was right, so we bought it,” explained Dan Hoffman.Northgate Health Club

Biz buzz

While customers of Top Shots Bar and Rooster’s Barn & Grill won’t see much change, the ownership of the pair of Rochester businesses has shifted around a bit.

Top Shots was founded in downtown Rochester by Ross Manahan and Kristina Zabel in 2010. Manahan and Zabel then launched Rooster’s in 2012 with Michael Brakke.

The three owners of the two businesses have changed the ownership mix a bit.

As of Jan. 1, Zabel is the sole owner and president of Top Shots. She bought out Manahan’s 58 percent share.

They reversed the process at Rooster’s. Manahan bought out Zabel’s 33 percent ownership of Rooster’s. Now Manahan is the president of Rooster’s with 66.6 percent ownership. Brakke continues to own 33 percent of Rooster’s.