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24-Hour Gym Fit To Open In New Year

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 17, 2007

Updated: 12/16/2007 08:33 pm

WESLEY CHAPEL - Patrick Corcoran is looking for a couple of thousand people unsatisfied with their gyms. And if they like working out at 3 a.m., that's OK.

Corcoran recently left his job teaching fifth-graders in Hernando County to open his own franchise of Anytime Fitness, a 24-hour workout chain headquartered in Minnesota.

"I loved the kids, but I wanted something new," said Corcoran, 34, a former center for the University of Colorado football team.

He plans to open his new business in the expansion of Northwoods Shopping Center now under construction at the northwest corner of County Line Road and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Corcoran has staked his claim to slightly more than 4,000 square feet in the miniplaza.

With construction crews still fleshing out the retail spaces, Corcoran has set up shop under an umbrella in a corner of the shopping center's parking lot. There, he signs up customers for his future gym, which should open early next year.

"I've signed up nurses and other people who just have odd hours," Corcoran said.
Kim King was one of Corcoran's first members.

The emergency room nurse from Meadow Pointe was excited to find another business open when she's up at 3 a.m.

"There's a lot of us looking for someone to cater to us," said King, who works from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and keeps the same schedule on her days off.

"You can only do Wal-Mart so many nights a week," she said.

The hours also appealed to Hillsborough County firefighter Anthony Balbontia. But soon after he signed up, the father of four was back to cancel his membership. Anytime Fitness' skeleton staff doesn't offer child care.

Anytime Fitness is built around the premise that there's never a wrong time to work out.

Clients get an electronic key that lets them into any of the company's facilities nationwide at any hour of the day or night.
Security cameras and other technology protect gym users and ensure members alone enter the building, Corcoran said.

The fitness centers offer a mix of free weights, exercise machines and cardio machines. They also have limited space for lockers and showers.

Corcoran hopes the all-hours schedule will give his business an advantage over neighboring gyms.

Lifestyle Family Fitness operates gyms a few miles away in Tampa Palms and Land O' Lakes. The high-end Sports + Field facility also is nearby on State Road 56. None of those facilities are open round-the-clock.

Anytime Fitness is going through an expansion in the Tampa Bay area.

The company has franchises in Land O' Lakes' Oak Grove development and also in Carrollwood.

The company's Web site says more locations are on the way for Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

Corcoran owns the rights to two of those locations - one at the Suncoast Parkway and State Road 54 and another in the Trinity area. It's unclear when either of those new locations will open, Corcoran said.

In the meantime, Corcoran continues his efforts to drum up clients for his Wesley Chapel site. He plans to stop when he reaches 2,000 clients to avoid overcrowding.

"We don't want the lines at the cardio machines, the lines circling the parking lot," Corcoran said.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

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