New 24-hour-gym opens Tuesday in Naperville

In a Naperville shopping area with a Starbucks, Panera Bread, Houlihan's, Nothing Bundt Cakes and shops selling tacos, Indian food, sandwiches, steaks, sushi, chocolate and frozen yogurt, there's soon to be a gym.

So it's no surprise that officials with Workout Anytime say the area could use one.

"The Naperville market needs a gym like us," said Eric Nagel, vice president of sales and operations for Workout Anytime Illinois and a co-owner of the Naperville location, which opens Tuesday at 2835 Showplace Drive. "We don't get crowded because we are a small gym that is 24 hours a day. There's no hassle with the equipment. You don't wait for treadmills like you do at a big club."

Participants won't have to pay as much as they do at the big clubs, either, with memberships costing $15 or $25 a month.

The Naperville club's opening near Route 59 and 95th Street is the first move in what's planned as a major suburban expansion for the Atlanta-based gym chain, said Randy Trotter, vice president of development. Workout Anytime aims to open 40 locations in the area in the next three years, building on its first three in Buffalo Grove, Wauconda and Darien since those operations have had success.

"It proved our concept not only worked in the south, but it worked in the colder climates as well," Trotter said.

The gym's concept is to provide a lower-cost option that's available around the clock for workers with odd shifts. There's no yearlong contract, so that lowers the intimidation and expense for people who are new to exercising, Trotter said.

"People are becoming more aware of being fit as part of health care," he said. "People are living longer and more people are joining gyms."

In about 6,500 square feet, Workout Anytime in Naperville will have a full array of treadmills, elliptical trainers, stationery bikes, free weights, weight machines and locker rooms. Nagel said it'll be known as a clean place, lacking only a pool and a sauna.

"This will be the cleanest gym that you've ever been in," Nagel said.

The facility can serve roughly 2,000 members and aims to recruit its customers from a two-mile radius so the location is convenient for them. All Workout Anytime members can use any gym in the chain nationwide, and Trotter said there are already about 100.