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Crunch Fitness moving into vacant Dominick's in Palatine

Part of a long-shuttered Dominick's Finer Foods will be filled by a health club on Palatine's southwest side.

Village council members Tuesday night granted formal approval for a special-use permit to Crunch Fitness allowing a health club in the Dominick's at the northeast corner of Euclid Avenue and Quentin Road. The Dominick's closed as part of an overall chain shutdown in December 2013.

Crunch Fitness will redevelop about 21,000 square feet of the 56,000-square-foot Dominick's in Regency Plaza. Owner and franchisee John Roberts said he plans to open in June.

Roberts said the Dominick's availability and a lack of health club competition in the vicinity led him to southwest Palatine.

"I'm from the area, live in Arlington Heights, grew up in Wheeling, so we were looking in this area," Roberts said outside the village council meeting chambers. "Some of it just comes down to availability. When you're looking for (21,000) square feet, you have a limited number of spots."

In Crunch Fitness materials submitted to Palatine, it is described as the country's top health club in the "high value/low price segment." Crunch Fitness has locations in 23 states and Puerto Rico.

Roberts said Regency Plaza's owners already have completed interior demolition of the Dominick's, removing refrigerators and other supermarket equipment as part of the process. He said extensive work will be needed to convert the space into a health club that'll include locker areas, a multipurpose room, personal training bar and retail section.

Crunch Fitness should have at least 5,000 members within about six months and have roughly $2 million in annual revenue, Robert said. The business is expected to have four full-time employees and at least 20 part-time workers with duties such as handling the front desk, personal training, accounting and back office.

Councilman Tim Millar said he hopes Crunch Fitness will have a positive economic runoff effect in Regency Plaza, which has several vacancies. Crunch Fitness will join True Value Hardware, Hair Cuttery and Salon Elite and Spa at the mall.

"It's great seeing something go in there," Millar said. "I think it will bring a lot of other business, hopefully, at the shopping center."

Hobby Lobby moved from Northwest Highway into a chunk of the Dominick's at Deer Grove Crossing Shopping Center on Dundee Road in Palatine in 2016. However, Schaumburg, Lake in the Hills, Buffalo Grove and Carpentersville are among suburbs that still have empty Dominick's.

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Crunch Fitness will redevelop part of this long-vacant Dominick's Finer Foods at Regency Plaza at Euclid Avenue and Quentin Road in Palatine. The Palatine village council Tuesday night approved a special-use permit allowing a health club in the space. Courtesy of Palatine Crunch Fitness
Palatine village council members Tuesday night approved Crunch Fitness opening in part of a former Dominick's Finer Foods at the northeast corner of Euclid Avenue and Quentin Road. This is a rendering of the interior. Crunch Fitness owner and franchisee John Roberts says he hopes to open in June. Courtesy of Palatine Crunch Fitness
  John Roberts, right, is franchisee and owner of Crunch Fitness that'll open in part of a former Dominick's Finer Foods at Euclid Avenue and Quentin Road in Palatine. Here, he speaks to the Palatine village council Tuesday night joined by general manager Garrett DeGrazia. Bob Susnjara/bsusnjara@dailyherald.com
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