In today’s business world, fitness gyms are opening everywhere. No one can deny the fitness trend is in full swing. But as quickly as some gyms open and thrive, others struggle to keep their membership intact.
Fourteen years ago, when Mario and Rennee Brochu opened Beachwalk Family Fitness in Belle River, they knew to be successful they needed to be a part of the community.
“We offer a community approach in our gyms,” Rennee said. “We tend to focus on family and community. We know all our members’ names but we also know who they are. We let our members know they are more than just members — they are part of the family.”
That philosophy has paid off for Beachwalk Family Fitness. It continued to grow with a facility in Essex and recently opened a new gym in LaSalle. Jenn Daoust has managed Beachwalk for the past eight years and admits that taking pride and being a part of the community is a big component of the gym’s success. So is doing things with a twist.
Owner Rennee Brochu and manager Jenn Daoust, of Beachwalk Family Fitness, pose in their LaSalle location. The gyms are run on a family-and-community philosophy in their three locations. (JASON KRYK / The Windsor Star)
“We offer boot camps just like other gyms but ours are different,” Daoust said. “We like to get outside and be visible in the community, so we have a trailer with our boot camp equipment and we go to different areas for the classes. It’s great to be able to workout in different areas.”
Daoust and Brochus both have children and understand the importance of supporting the local teams. The gym prides itself on offering strength and conditioning classes for local hockey teams and they are active sponsors of other community teams. They are visible at events and also help schools with their initiatives to get students active.
“We like to give back to the communities,” Rennee said. “We are big supporters of the food banks and often have members bring canned goods into the gym. As a local business we feel it is very important to support our communities.”
A few years ago the message of living a healthy lifestyle became even more important — and personal — than ever before.
“One of our trainers suffered a stroke, which was very devastating for us,” Rennee said. “She used to compete in figure and competition shows. She is an amazing athlete even in her 60s. When she had a stroke it really hit home for us when we saw how much the organization did for her. It made us realize even more so how important it is to support our local charities.”
They also participate in the annual Big Bike Race fundraiser.
The gym also realized that a growing number of its members are parents with young kids. For that reason, they started KidsZone so they could bring their children to play while they worked out. The three locations offer all the benefits of the big gyms, such as the latest workout equipment, a mix of aerobic, TRX, yoga and Pilates classes, experienced personal trainers and tanning beds. As an added touch, the new gym in LaSalle is offering crossfit.
Since opening their first gym in Belle River, Rennee has noticed a lot of changes in the fitness world.
“The importance of fitness is growing and you see this with the incentives that companies are giving their employees to get fit,” Rennee said. “You now see our gyms filled with people of all ages and sizes. When we first opened it was just the super fit people, now it’s the everyday person who just wants to feel good about themselves.”
“People are no longer intimidated coming to the gym,” Daoust said. “People used to think it was just for guys lifting the heavy weights, but it is now so much more. People are seeing the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle.”
ksteele@windsorstar.com or on Twitter @winstarkelly
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