Fitness business venture expands to add space, services
Less than two years after launching a new fitness business in Aurora, Amy and Nick Owens have announced a third transition, reflecting a continuous pattern of growth and change.
Tri-Fit opened its doors in November of 2021 and 11 months later expanded its list of services prompting a move to a new location in the same K Street facility. Now another 10 months in, the owners have announced yet another change, “version 3.0,” this time doubling the space to accommodate the need for more room to operate, all based on success and demand for fitness classes and personal training.
“Personal training clients and class attendance have picked up, so when Suite A became available we saw it as an avenue to have more space for personal training clients,” Amy explained of the decision to occupy both suites A and B in the triplex located at 1218 K St. “This way I can be here doing personal training and have classes happening (next door) at the same time. We needed those two separate spaces so my personal training clients get the one-on-one attention that they deserve.”
Ironically, the business first launched in Suite A, before outgrowing that space, which prompted a move next door to Suite B in October of last year. As of this week, Tri-Fit now welcomes clients to both suites, which are located side by side in the triplex facility.
A native of northwest Iowa who lived and worked in South Dakota for many years, Amy has worked in various health care and fitness positions and said she has a passion for helping people feel better. Her experience as a healthy living director at a YMCA and as a personal training specialist convinced her that she could fill a need here in Aurora, a vision she said is now becoming a reality.
“We just kind of keep growing and expanding and we keep adding more instructors,” she said.
Tri-Fit now welcomes Kristin Chamness as a yoga instructor who will join Amy to help offer yoga classes six days a week, excluding Sunday.
Asked who represents Tri-Fit’s target market and what sector of the population is generating the most business growth, Amy said the clientele varies in age and fitness goals.
“I don’t know that we have a target market,” she observed. “I feel like it’s anyone who is looking to get into shape. I think our whole thought process going back to Suite A is that not only will it be for personal training clients, but we’ve also invested in equipment so while I can be in here doing fitness classes we’ll have weights in there for them to be able to go and lift as well. I think we’ll be able to target more family memberships, so that’s what we’re kind of looking at. I think our clientele may change a little bit by opening up Suite A.”
The Owens purchased the former Most Fun-N-Fit Circuit business from Lisa Gretch in November of 2021.
Tri-Fit began by offering 24/7 access to members who could use circuit machines on their own or sign up for personalized fitness training with Amy. That response, she said, motivated her to rethink the business model, and ultimately to grow.
“I think personal training has really blown up here,” she said in a 2022 interview. “We have a lot more personal training than we ever have and then we introduced yoga, which has really transpired me.”
During the past 21 months, Tri-Fit has offered a variety of classes, offering a program of services that continues to evolve, based on customer demand.
“I kind of look at wellness as all things combined,” Amy explained. “I mean, we have the cardio classes, like your spin classes we have twice a week” featuring eight cardio-based spin bikes. “Then we’re doing things like Quick Fit classes, which is a 30-minute class where you get weights and cardio and kind of get out the door in 30 minutes.
“But then I think it’s equally important that we’re doing some yoga classes to get the stretching we need,” she continued. “I think w need the cardio and we need the strength, but we also need to stretch the body, so on any given day we usually have about four different classes ranging from dance fit to Zumba. We have four instructors who are teaching for me and then we’ll have yoga classes on top of that so people can come and really get their cardio up, then they can come and relax. We just feel like we need to be all those things, not just one.”
As she described when first launching Tri-Fit, faith was and remains part of the Owens’ mission.
“I think it’s part of who I am,” she shared. “I just feel like there are a lot of people who don’t attend church and if this is one place they can come and relax and maybe hear that Jesus loves them, I feel like that’s part of the mission of our place.
“I feel very blessed,” she concluded. “I feel like God has blessed me. I mean, I have a skill set and we’ve just been able to utilize it here and we’re just so thankful that the community has supported us.”
Tri-Fit is planning an open house on Thursday.