No longer do gym members just walk in the door to Anytime Fitness (formerly Ridge Fitness) on Snoqualmie Ridge and check in at the front desk. There is no front desk. Instead, 24-hours a day, a key-card swipe unlocks the front door, while simultaneously checking them in to the facility.
If two people enter on one key card swipe, the computer knows and notes the account. If the member doesn’t inform management of why an additional person entered with 
them, their key card eventually becomes locked. Technology has become a virtual front desk.
Sometimes business means change. For Ridge Fitness, changing was reality this winter as new ownership meant a total facility makeover; a makeover that streamlined the space of the 6-year old health club.
Ridge Fitness shrunk from nearly 15,000 square feet to about 8,000 square feet, eliminating much of its non-workout, non-revenue generating areas into an efficient use of exercise space.
The square footage lost in the remodel was upstairs, including a former yoga classroom, large weight room and an office. New exercise equipment was then added downstairs, where the major remodeling occurred.
Downstairs, two large locker rooms, lobby, steam room, child watch room and juice bar area were all converted into exercise space, leaving behind individual bath/shower rooms and according to manager (former Ridge Fitness owner), Sue Dowling, a much more efficient use of the remodeled space.
Sue said that although the club lost a large chunk of square footage, it only lost about 500 feet of actual exercise area. Now, nearly 100% of the smaller fitness facility consists of revenue-generating, workout space.
Dowling said she was sad to lose the club’s child watch room, but tough decisions had to be made. She has, though, been talking to a local drop-in child care company about possibly opening a new location in some of the upstairs space the club gave up.
Anytime Fitness is open 24-hours. The facility is equipped with surveillance cameras, but they are not monitored. Dowling says she’s had a few members work out around 2AM, but most of the new activity the club sees is in the 4AM hour.
Dowling said members with documented heart conditions are required to wear an alert necklace in case of emergencies when using the club with no employees present. One piece of weight equipment that required “spotting” was also removed for safety reasons, but that’s about it. She says sometimes going home and night and leaving the club unmonitored feels like trusting her kids home alone, but things are transitioning smoothly.
Another change Sue loves? Her new office. Instead of hiding in an upstairs corner, Sue’s new office is adjacent the front entry with windows to the street and the facility. She says she feels much more connected to her customers.
Anytime Fitness is holding a Grand Opening event that begins May 15th and runs through May 18, 2013. Community members can stop in for tours and enter a drawing for a free membership.
Visit www.anytimefitness.com for more information. Good Luck Sue and Anytime Fitness!
