Business Snapshot: Fitness Unlimited Enters New Phase

 

Doing something nice “just because” is not an unfamiliar concept for Fitness Unlimited. Just recently, the women’s-only health club — located in East Milton Square since 1980 — gave its members a new locker room, sauna, childcare area, elevator, bathroom, renovated steam room and showers, a separate spin studio, and even a room for private personal training sessions without tacking a cent on to the monthly membership fee.

“Our main focus is to service our current customer base,” said manager Beth Whitney. Ms. Whitney said she hopes more members will start coming early in the morning before work, because “you can exercise and get ready in a really nice environment.” According to Ms. Whitney, the set of stairs leading to the lower level of the club used to open into the changing area, which was not separate from the shower, sauna, and steam room.

“It was a tiny little locker room,” she said. Now, the locker room looks more like a suite in a hotel. The floor is carpeted, the lockers light-colored hardwood, and the vanities equipped with marble counters, lighting and built-in hairdryers. “A big thing is the separation of the wet and dry areas,” said Ms. Whitney. There is now a door between the locker room and the wet areas, and six showers instead of three. The sauna and steam room were also redone. “The new sauna is all cedar,” she said. “It’s so nice in there, members are using it so much more.”

As part of the renovation, the club installed an elevator for handicapped members to access the lower level. The childcare center, which was upstairs, was moved to the lower level. The old space was converted into offices. “We have storage that we’ve never had before,” said Ms. Whitney. “We’d like to be a place that maybe doctors come and have a seminar here.”

Owner Paul Maduri recently moved the corporate office to Milton from the gym’s other location in Brookline. Another addition on the lower level, down the hall from the locker room, is a studio specifically set up for spin classes. “The best thing about it is the big projector screen,” said Ms. Whitney. “Classes can have a themed ride, like through Italy, or the Tour de France.”

Ms. Whitney said there are finishing touches to be made but, for the most part, the renovation is complete just in time to launch a trendy new class. Cardio striptease will start on Tuesday, Sept. 26, at 6:30 p.m., which members can sign up for a $10 per class fee. Non-members can sign up for $15. Class size is limited to 20, and space is on a first-come, first-serve basis. The club offers 85 different classes per week at no extra charge for members.
There will be a vendor’s day on a Saturday in October as a joint event with the Milton Junior Woman’s Club. More information will follow in an upcoming issue.