Since the Fairfax-area branch of Anytime Fitness closed its doors this spring, its owner has been sprinting to set up a new location for members this year.
The finish line is now in sight — just down the road from the gym’s old address in the Twinbrooke Shopping Center.
Now located at 10621A Braddock Road in University Mall across from George Mason University, Anytime Fitness “2.0” should open by December, franchise owner Brian Samuel told FFXnow. The lease has been signed, and an eight to 12-week buildout is planned.
“It’s been important to me to try and find a location that was close enough that when we reopen, that same community can reconnect and come back together,” Samuel said.
Anytime Fitness’ lease at Twinbrooke, its home since 2017, expired in April after rent negotiations broke down following restructuring and modernization efforts by the shopping plaza’s owner.
The new location will have all of the equipment most customers would expect to see at a gym — treadmills, bikes, step mills, rowers, weights, kettleballs — but its layout will look a little different.
“It’s going to be a little bit more open space,” Samuel said. “It’s not going to feel as sectioned off as the other one was. So, it’ll feel just [like] a more open-air vibe, bright, very welcoming. Anytime Fitness rebranded recently, so we’re going to get the new look.”
Anytime Fitness is known as a coaching club, with lots of small group and personal training on site, he added. That also helps customers form personal connections.
In the months since the Twinbrooke site closed, Samuel has stayed in touch with customers through Facebook, text messaging and email, he said. He calls Anytime Fitness the “Cheers of gyms” due to its supportive and friendly vibe.
Even with that continued communication, Samuel has missed having conversations with the same people every day, hearing about what’s going on in their lives, from new grandkids to new jobs.
He says he looks forward to bringing that community back together, just a few miles down the road.
“Everyone is less than 60 degrees of separation because they’re all in the same neighborhood. Their kids, or their grandkids have gone to the same schools,” he said. “It’s so many shared life experiences they didn’t recognize yet. But once we get them talking to each other, which is part of what we try to do, they make those connections. I mean, people have become lifelong friends in this gym.”
