New orbit for Marlborough Planet Fitness

Mike Gleason Daily News Staff @MGleason_MDN

MARLBOROUGH - After a decade in business, the Marlborough Planet Fitness opened at a new location this past week, expanding its offerings and providing clients with a more aesthetically pleasing space.

Brian Kablik, the president and CEO of the franchisee group that runs the gym, said the new space - at 21 Apex Drive - is part of a new Apex Entertainment Center, which includes a trampoline park, bowling alley, virtual reality gaming center and now the largest Planet Fitness in the state.

"I own 15 Planet Fitnesses (of which Marlborough was the first), and I've been in many beyond that," he said. "This one is phenomenal."

The former Marlborough location, said Kablik, was about 13,000 square feet - about average for the company when it was built back in 2007. Planet Fitness' new average is closer to 20,000 square feet, while the new Marlborough gym is 22,000 square feet.

"The old location had a 12-foot-high ceiling - this one is 26 feet high," he said. "Visually - with the environment and atmosphere - we spared no expense."

The space is put to good use - the new location holds about double the amount of equipment. The gym has new cardio machines, massage loungers, two new abs and stretching areas, and tile- and granite-adorned locker rooms.

Kablik, once a swimmer at the University of New Hampshire, had been working at a marketing firm when his interest in starting a gym was piqued.

"From a lifestyle standpoint, we thought the business was intriguing," he said. "We felt a lot of gyms were not well operated."

He recruited a fellow employee at the firm, Jonathan Epstein, and together they left to start a new gym concept in the early 2000s.

"We'd owned gyms... and we were always watching over our shoulder at Planet Fitness," he said, adding that the group opted to explore franchising with the chain. "We walked in, loved their model, and finally decided (to go with them)."

Kablik liked the fact that Planet Fitness was based in New England (it was founded in Dover, New Hampshire), and said franchising with the company was one of the best decisions he'd ever made. He noted that 95 percent of the company's gyms were owned and operated by independent business-people, like his group.

A longtime area resident, Kablik felt it was natural to open a business in MetroWest. His wife is a Holliston native, and their first house was in Hopedale.

"(The area) felt like home to us," he said. "Gyms are really a neighborhood business - the vast majority of a gym's members will live within a five-mile radius of it."

The upcoming New Year's holiday - and the lose-weight resolutions it typically brings - is an important time for gyms. Kablik said, though, Planet Fitness is somewhat different in that regard - it sees steady signups throughout the year.

"We attract members of all ages and fitness levels," he said.

Mike Gleason can be reached at 508-634-7546 or mgleason@wickedlocal.com. For news throughout the day, follow him on Twitter @MGleason_MDN.

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