New Owner For WorkOut World

New Owner For WorkOut World

A Rochester workout club is starting the new year under new owners.

As of Jan. 1, a St. Cloud-based Fitness Evolution franchisee has assumed ownership of the former WorkOut World club at 3960 North U.S. 52 in the Maplewood Square shopping center. It will take on the Fitness Evolution name.

Kevin Hardy, regional manager for Fitness Evolution franchisee Vertical Fitness, said his team has hit the ground running with the Rochester gym. They’re honoring existing memberships signed up during its five years as a WOW club. Plus, Fitness Evolution plans to make improvements at the facility.

“We’re updating the maintenance on each piece of equipment. We’re going to update the whole place including flooring, paint, repairing the locker rooms and more,” he said.

In addition to improving the club, Hardy said Fitness Evolution plans to add 10-15 employees to the current team of 20 employees.

On Monday, New Jersey-based businessman Steven Borghi confirmed the sale of his last remaining Rochester fitness club.

“The reason I decided to sell that club is because it is an outlier without any other of our clubs nearby. That made it hard to manage,” he said. “We did really enjoy our time there.”

The sale ends Borghi’s almost eight-year run in Rochester. In 2008, he rolled into the Med City in a bright green, logo-festooned bus. Borghi soon lined up the 24,000-square-foot former Gander Mountain space in the Crossroads Shopping Center for his first Minnesota club.

In 2010, WOW opened a second location in part of the former Rainbow Foods space in Maplewood Square.

In January 2013, the Crossroads club closed without any warning to employees or members. At the time, Borghi said, “It turns out that Rochester is not dense enough for two clubs.”

Hardy said his company has a lot of experience in the industry and is used to taking over other clubs on short notice.

“We’ve been looking at the Rochester area for the past year and a half. We even looked closely at that club,” he said. “When this happened, we were happy to take it on. The market is really growing there. There’s a lot of opportunity.”