Club plans to offer fitness, no frills

It’s a comet, it’s an asteroid, it’s a new place to work out.

• What: Discount-priced fitness club that offers a full line of resistance and cardiovascular workout machines, full-service shower and locker rooms, tanning-bed and massage services in a no-frills (no day care and no fitness instructors) atmosphere.

• Who: Taj Group LLC.

• When: Opening in March.

• Where: 8024 E. Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver.

• Employees: 10 to 12.

• Membership fees: $10 to $20 per month.

• On the Web: http://planetfitness.com.

Vancouver is about to get its first Planet Fitness health club, set to open in late March at the Garrison Square shopping center.

The New Hampshire-based fitness franchise will take up 50,000 square feet inside the center, which is off East Mill Plain Boulevard and Garrison Road. The anchor-store space has housed a long line of grocers, such as Danielson Thriftway, Nature’s Marketplace and most recently a Supermax discount food and merchandise store.

To Planet Fitness franchisee Kalpana Lubrano, the former grocery store site is well suited for her company’s discount model.

“We think that area needs a gym and it needs different variety and price point,” said Lubrano, part of the Portland-based Taj Group LLC, which bought the franchise rights to bring Planet Fitness to the Portland-Vancouver metro area.

Monthly gym membership prices range between $10 and $20.

The company’s first order of business will be to get the Vancouver gym up and running, said Lubrano. She would not disclose start-up and construction costs for converting the space.

“There are definite plans to grow,” she said. “We’re planning on hiring 10 to 12 people.”

The new club also could benefit from a void left by the May closure of the Oxford Athletic Club about one block south. The older, full-service gym shut its doors after doing business for 50 years.

Now, the nearest competitors for Planet Fitness will be two 24 Hour Fitness clubs. One is about two miles north at 2913 N.E. 72nd Drive. The other is about five miles east at 800 S.E. Tech Center Drive.

Lubrano said Planet Fitness caters to first-time gym members with its “judgement-free” zone. It does not cater to patrons lifting heavy weights.

“We really stand by this really comfortable atmosphere to work out,” Lubrano said.

Garrison Square’s other tenants include the Peachtree Restaurant & Pie House, Starbucks, the Manning Academy of Cosmetology and an Ace Hardware store.

Planet Fitness was founded in 1992 in Dover, N.H., and has grown to more than 400 locations in 40 states.