My name is Carey Martell and I am starting a new weightlifting gym in Newberg, Oregon. If you are interested in becoming a member, please fill out the form at the bottom of this post.
My intention is for the gym to be catered to power lifting, body building and strong man workouts, with floor space for offering other kinds of classes. For example I will be teaching historical longsword fencing classes twice a week. The gym will also be designed so that official powerlifting meets and other events can be held at it.
I want to cultivate a good community culture reminiscent of the 1980s and 90s gyms I remember; an old-school kind of branding to it, catering to strength athletes, with some modern touches. Just walking into the space should get people excited and pumped up.
Unlike Planet Fitness, you’ll be able to wear tank tops, have a big water bottle and drop some weights on the rubber flooring.
So far, I have acquired about 8 pieces of used equipment, including multiple bench presses, squat racks, Maxicam Muscle Dynamics Crossover cable machine, peck fly machine, Glute-Hamstring Developer, seated preacher curl and seated calf raise machine. I am planning to invest around $25,000 into new equipment, which will include a Texas Strength Competition bench press, nice power cage for rack pulls, deadlift platform, around 6,000 lbs of free plates (at least 500 lbs per station), full dumbbell rack up to 160 lbs, and numerous specialty body building machines, such as a neck press, t-bar row and standing lateral raise machine. Originally, I was not planning to have any treadmills but the space I am looking at is large enough we can have some, in addition to rowing machines for cardio.
For body builders, I am thinking of covering all 4 walls of a small room with mirrors for posing practice.
The gym will also have a pro shop for purchasing supplements, historical fencing equipment and misc. other relevant products.
Here are some photos of used gym equipment that has been obtained already, so people can see I am serious about this venture.
Again, there will be a mixture of used gym equipment and new specialty equipment. This is just what I have found so far with minimal investment.
My goal is for a monthly gym membership price of around $54 a month, with discounts for advance payment plans. The gym will be open 24/7 and accessed via a keycard system. There will be a security camera system as well, for everyone’s safety. Teenagers will be able to join the gym as well, as I believe it’s good for youth to get into weight lifting.
Some info about myself:
- Former US Army (2000-2005), honorable discharge. Member of VFW and American Legion.
- Instructor certification in Historical longsword and rapier fencing.
- Serial digital media entrepreneur (my LinkedIn profile)
- Owner of Federschwert.com, retailer of historical fencing equipment.
- No criminal background.
- I intend to be onsite at the gym every day and available to help people, and will have a part time worker onsite at night.
Please fill out the form below if you are interested in joining the gym, filling out this survey helps me validate the market and know what services and equipment people most want to see in the gym.
