GREENWICH — There’s never been a better time or place to work up a sweat, achieve a healthier lifestyle or work on a better golf swing in Greenwich, thanks to a burgeoning fitness and wellness sector in town.
In May 2021, most pandemic-enforced restrictions on gyms and fitness clubs were lifted by state authorities, and after a taking a hit from COVID-19, Greenwich and other communities in the region are seeing something of a fitness boom.
At Threads and Treads on the Post Road in Greenwich, a steady stream of customers has been coming in for running shoes and other athletic apparel. The store opened in the 1970’s when an earlier fitness boom was taking off.
“December was our best-ever month, which is really saying something after 43 years,” said Michael Yardis, who purchased the fitness, clothing and outdoor-adventure store five years ago. He said he was pleased to see that the parking lot at a gym near his home was filled to capacity when he drove past it recently, and there appears to be a strong and continual demand for fitness, outdoor adventure and sports in the community — home to a large contingent of Spandex-clad go-getters of all ages.
A number of new businesses are entering the fitness scene in Greenwich in 2023, coming into an already crowded field. The new fitness entrepreneurs are offering fairly sophisticated training options and niche services.
Barry’s Bootcamp, a national chain that specializes in “high-intensity interval work outs,” is set to open its first location in Connecticut at an office complex in the west end of town. Nearby, renovations are going on at another athletic facility for a virtual golf range and golf training center, Rock Pile Golf, off Holly Hill Lane. Greenwich Country Club is also building its own state-of-the art golf simulator. A pilates studio is set to replace another fitness center in Old Greenwich that offered boxing lessons and fitness training in that sport.
All those new operators are coming into a community that already offers a myriad of yoga classes, spinning sessions, tennis courts, pickleball leagues, specialty bike shops, crew and sailing facilities, kick-boxing lessons, skating rinks and wellness centers. The town is also known as a destination and even a powerhouse for lesser-known sports and activities, like squash, fencing, water polo, table tennis, polo and other equestrian events.
Yardis, the owner of the central Greenwich running and athletic shop that has been in business since 1979, says the demographics of Greenwich make it an attractive market for the fitness industry.
“All of our customers are driven and focused and hard working, and they like to take care of themselves. In general, the type of person who lives and works here in the Greenwich area is focused and ambitious,” he said. “Work hard, play hard — that’s what I’ve heard here since I was a little kid. I’ve been listening to stories of people training for marathons and Iron Man competitions for as long as I can remember.”
Many Greenwich residents are into multiple sports, he noted.
“All of our customers are runners, but they’re skiers and they’re hikers, too. Taking care of winter adventures, too, has helped us a lot. Our customers just love to be outside,” said Yardis, who also does running, biking, weight training, “and for fun, golf.”
Marcia O’Kane, president of the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce, said the fitness sector in town has been increasingly vibrant, with a lot of niche specialties cropping up, often with an entrepreneurial flair.
“As the worst of the pandemic is over, we have noted that people are now more ready to resume in-person fitness sessions,” she said. “The difference, we have noted, is that the general gym model which offers training, classes and equipment under one roof has been replaced by niche offerings such as pilates studios, yoga studios and HIT (High-Intensity Training) fitness.
“These organizations are many times family or individually-owned which spotlights the small business entrepreneur,” O’Kane said. “Greenwich is a great location for the startup of these solo enterprises since there is a population willing to try something different and to vary their fitness routines.”
One of those entrepreneurs striking out into new territory in the fitness scene is Joshua Takacs, the owner and operator of Family Functional Fitness, which provides what he described as a more customized and educational approach to health and fitness. Takacs was confident enough about his ideas of a more wholistic approach to fitness — and the Greenwich market — that he opened a new facility in Cos Cob in late 2021 after launching the business in 2019. His shop in Old Greenwich is around the corner from another business that builds customized bikes.
A more sophisticated clientele, Takacs said, is eager for new and innovative ways to seek a healthier life in addition to the more traditional weight-lifting and machine-centered gym experience.
“In Greenwich, you have people with a very athletic background and people who understand the value in getting proper guidance and mechanics. They understand there’s value in a better quality product,” said Takacs, who used to work for a big fitness chain before going into business for himself.
The FFF operation offers one-on-one guidance: “We go very in depth, in stability, balance and strength. A full bio-mechanical assessment,” he said. “We’re putting people in a better lifestyle.”
Takacs isaid he s contemplating opening a third branch in the region because of strong demand for the fitness services he offers.
“The formula has worked, people have responded well. The retention rate is very high,” he said. “Greenwich has been responsive to us, very supportive, it’s been a good place to me. The goal is to spread this everywhere — make more people attentive to their health, investing more in their health. And investing at the right time, where you’re preventing — not waiting until you’re already sick.”
Many of the fitness operations in Greenwich come at a premium cost, not surprising, noted Tilo Chowdhury, a professor of marketing at Quinnipiac University, who said affluent communities are typically the most fit and healthy.
“Connecticut is a good spot for it, fitness; the communities are affluent. It’s driven by an affluent crowd,” she said.
Connecticut typically ranks in the top five most healthy and fit states in the nation year after year. In one ranking study in 2022, the state came in second place for overall health and fitness. The study found that the Nutmeg State had 19 gyms for every 100,000 people, second only to California, and the obesity rate was on the lower end for the U.S., at 29 percent.
Chowdhury said the fitness boom in the region appears to be driven by older adults — Baby Boomers who are seeking to stay fit and active into their 70s and beyond, embracing a new way of growing older that incorporates regular exercise.
The marketing professor said she always sees senior citizens exercising in the water regularly when she takes her son to swimming sessions at their local pool.
“The demographics have changed,” she said.
The gym and fitness clubs have also become a new source of social interaction for people who are now working remotely at home, either part-time or full time, as fall-out from the coronavirus pandemic, she said.
“The gym has taken that over — work conversations, work outings, discussions. The lifestyle has changed,” said Chowdhury. “Everyone needs an opportunity to go out,” she observed, “And the health rationale makes gyms more attractive.”