A franchisee is converting two of the three Rapid Fitness clubs in the Raleigh-Durham, NC, area, to Retro Fitness.
The conversion went into effect last Friday. Raleigh-based Rapid Fitness will continue to operate the remaining Rapid Fitness club in Raleigh.
The franchisee also will open a new Retro Fitness club in Durham early next year. The 25,000-square-foot Durham club will be the largest fitness center in the greater Durham and Chapel Hill, NC, area, according to a press release from Rapid Fitness.
"Retro Fitness is a perfect fit for the Research Triangle market," Michael Rattenni, owner of Rapid Fitness and chairman of fitness management and consulting company Triumph Group Management, said in a statement. "Our clients will have access to the comprehensive fitness experience they have come to expect from Rapid Fitness, combined with the top-notch offerings of facilities, equipment and amenities from one of the nation's fitness industry leaders."
Rattenni has provided personal training management to all Retro Fitness franchisees on the East Coast for the past seven years. In his arrangement with Rapid Fitness, one company owns the physical club while Rattenni, through Triumph Group Management, operates the facility, the Triangle Business Journal reported.
As part of the conversion, Triumph Group Management and Retro Fitness franchisees Bikram and Sonya Singh, a father-and-daughter team that will own the clubs, are investing $1 million in upgrades to the former Rapid Fitness downtown club this month, with plans to renovate the North Ridge club next year. The Singhs also will partner with The EFT Group, a personal training company, to expand Retro Fitness throughout North Carolina. That expansion includes three to five Retro Fitness clubs in the Raleigh-Durham area and potential expansion into the Charlotte, Fayetteville and Cary areas.
Last month, Retro Fitness, Colts Neck, NJ, announced that former NFL quarterback David Garrard and his wife, Mary, plan to open three Retro Fitness clubs in the Jacksonville, FL, area within the next two years. Another former NFL player, Leigh Bodden, will open a Retro Fitness club next month in Lanham, MD, the first of three planned clubs in the Washington, DC, area.