FLATIRON — Two new boutique fitness studios are opening in Flatiron next year — offering small group classes and personalized attention in an attempt to stand out from the many other specialty gyms in the neighborhood.
The Movement, which will offer group workout classes while raising money to fight cancer, is opening its first location at 32 W. 18th St. in January, while the Upper East Side's The Fhitting Room plans to launch its second location on West 19th Street in the spring or summer.
“We’re going to try to know everyone who walks through the door, and make [the experience] more personalized," said Jordan Canino, 29, who owns The Movement with his fiancee, Dana Proman, 27.
"Gyms like Crunch or Equinox are pretty chaotic and hectic, and not everyone knows your name."
While there are two SoulCycle locations and Barry's Bootcamp within just a few blocks, Canino hopes to stand out by offering private sessions with just three or four people, as well as classes of up to about 30 people.
The 3,300-square-foot studio will have two workout rooms — offering classes in yoga, ballet-inspired barre and high-intensity interval boot camp — plus a juice bar in the front. Classes will cost $20 to $30 apiece, with discounts for bulk purchases.
Canino, who grew up in Philadelphia and now lives in Flatiron, is opening the studio in part to honor the memory of his mother, who died of brain cancer when Canino was 18.
The studio will donate $1 for each class each person takes to the National Brain Tumor Society, while also aiming to raise awareness of the disease, Canino said.
“That’s something that many other places don’t do,” said Canino, who has a bachelor's degree in entrepreneurship from the University of Pennsylvania. “That’s why we’re called The Movement. It’s for the philanthropic aspect — in addition, when people work out, they move.”
Also opening next year is The Fhitting Room, which will expand from its original Lexington Avenue location to a new spot at 31 W. 19th St.
“We discovered the perfect building…where the beautiful, large, open space gives us the ideal backyard for our newest Fhit playground!” The Fhitting room said on its blog. “While New Yorkers have started to coin this neighborhood as the Fitness District, we’re ready to make it the Fhitness District.”
Founded by Kari Saitowitz, the studio's name is a play on the acronym HIT, or High Intensity Training, with strenuous classes focused on working out the entire body and improving endurance.
The new 4,000-square-foot Flatiron space, which will have two studios, will also offer a class in "functional movements," which combine everyday activities such as walking, lifting, bending and climbing stairs into a workout.
The facility will also include showers, towels and digitally locked lockers, the blog post said. Classes will cost $35 apiece, or 10 for $320.
“And if you love the intimacy of our UES studio, don’t worry, we’re designing our larger downtown space to maintain the same friendly feeling," the studio said on its blog.
