Fierce45 currently has four locations in and around Denver. (Courtesy: Fierce45)
Fierce45 has been training for years to make it outside the state, and now he’s finally done it.
This fall, the Denver-based Pilates studio chain will open its first location outside of Colorado in Westchester County, New York, just north of the Bronx.
“Westchester has a pretty dense population of the same demographic that comes to Denver, and there aren’t a lot of boutique fitness options,” said Melissa Williams, Fierce45’s chief operating officer.
Additionally, both Williams and Fierce45 founder Torrey Newman have personal ties to the county. Williams grew up in Westchester, and Newman’s best friend lives there. She said this made it much easier to find a location, rent space and hire reliable contractors.
Fierce45 founder Torrey Newman (left) and COO Melissa Williams
Fierce45 will open in a 2,000-square-foot space at 251 Main St. in Mount Kisco, Williams said. This space is slightly larger than our Denver studio and can accommodate up to 14 machines.
Newman started Fierce45 in 2015, opening along 38th Street in Lohi. The company currently has four locations and also operates in Hilltop, West Wash Park and Inglewood.
Another 1,880-square-foot location at 8547 E. Arapahoe Road in Greenwood Village is scheduled to open in the fall. Together with New York, this will be the company’s first studio opening since 2019.
Williams said the company had intended to franchise before the pandemic, but ultimately scrapped those plans.
“We wanted a more hands-on approach,” Williams said. “The quality side of what we feel we can put out there, and what’s so important to us… we started to feel like we might not be able to put the same product out there with (franchising).”
Williams said the company’s leadership team began researching where it wanted to expand about three years ago. Their broker, CBRE’s Cameron Flint, used software that gathers neighborhood demographic information to decide where to expand.
In New York, Williams said the company plans to open a second studio in East Westchester before potentially expanding to New Jersey, Connecticut, Long Island and elsewhere.
“We hope to double our footprint this year and maybe add one or two more markets next year,” Williams said. “It’s slow and controlled growth, but a little faster than we’ve seen in years past.”
As for Colorado, Williams said the studio is eyeing locations such as Golden, Wheat Ridge, Castle Rock and Highlands Ranch. But before she decides where to go next, she wants to make sure Greenwood Her Village is running smoothly.
“We don’t want to end up in a situation where the market becomes too saturated, or we open too many studios and we have to close them, or we end up with only studios that are ‘OK’ performing,” Williams said. .
