Fitness Club Takes Upscale Tack Sta-Fit Raises Some Rates To Offset Cost Of New Downtown Operation; Spa Takes Old Location

The health and fitness scene in downtown Spokane is taking an uptown swing.

The owner of Sta-Fit Racquet and Athletic Clubs plans to move and expand the downtown location and open a “destination spa” in its place.

The new Sta-Fit, at 718 W. Riverside, will be 11,000 square feet bigger and will have a more “upscale” image, said owner Jeff Brannon. It will encompass 18,000 square feet on two floors of a currently vacant building. The target opening day is Dec. 20.

The club will increase the staff from five to 15, allowing it to provide more personal training and larger aerobics classes. A cafe serving low-fat items for breakfast, lunch, dinner and takeout also will be on-site, seating a maximum of 35 people.

But there’s a catch.

New Sta-Fit members who wish to include the downtown club in their membership will be charged an additional $4 per month. Present members who want to use the downtown club will have to pay the increased fee when they renew. Sta-Fit has four other locations, in north and south Spokane, the Valley and Coeur d’Alene.

Pricewise, Sta-Fit falls between the other two downtown health club choices - the YMCA and The Spokane Club. The YMCA, a non-profit organization, caters to the general public with a wide array of classes for children and adults. Membership at the more-upscale Spokane Club includes access to casual and fine dining, business seminars, networking and other services.

The new Sta-Fit will offer other amenities not available at the current downtown club, including a free towel service, lounge rooms with TV sets and free toiletries in the locker rooms, Brannon said.

Many members aren’t convinced that the club’s added luxuries merit an increased fee and have written letters to Sta-Fit’s corporate office to complain. Valaurie Caprez, who works out at the downtown club during her lunch hour, is one.

“Downtown shouldn’t have to pay extra costs,” Caprez said. It’s unfair, she explained, because Sta-Fit is not charging more at other clubs. The downtown club, even in its expanded state, she said, will not have the same facilities - such as racquetball and basketball courts and a swimming pool - as the other locations.

Member Pat Tebo agreed. “If they’re building a new facility, they should be expecting a commensurate benefit,” he said, “so why should we have to pay more?”

Members are paying more, Brannon said, because renovations will cost more than $1 million in the new location. That and other factors forced him to charge more for the downtown club, he said.

“The higher cost of being downtown - in lease and operations, and all the new equipment - they have to be absorbed somehow,” he said.

The Sta-Fit site in the basement of the Seafirst Bank Building will be converted into Spa Paradiso - dubbed a “destination spa” by director Linda Brewer. The spa plans to open Jan. 2.

Among the indulgences to be enjoyed are seaweed body wraps, aromatherapy, water massage, manicures, pedicures, facials, yoga and relaxation classes, said Brewer, who has years of experience running spas in the United States and other countries.

People using Spa Paradiso will pay per service or buy packages of services. Discounts will be given to StaFit members. One $95 package includes a video skin analysis, whirlpool, steam and sauna, a 25-minute massage, a facial, lunch and a class, Brewer said.

“We want everybody to feel like they’re queen for a day,” Brewer said. “It’s a nice break for a few hours or a day.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE PRICE OF FITNESS Sta-Fit falls in between downtown’s two other major health clubs pricewise. At the YMCA, a single adult pays a $75 joining fee, then $32.50 per month. A couple pays a $125 joining fee, then $42.50 per month. Comparable prices at Sta-Fit, without the $4 downtown club fee, are a $150 joining fee, then $38.95 per month for a single adult, and a $225 joining fee, then $48.95 per month for a couple. The Spokane Club, which also offers access to business forums, casual and fine dining, costs a family $500 for an initiation fee, then $84.20 per month. A single adult pays a $300 initiation fee, then $73.10 per month.