May 14, 2023

National fitness chain Crunch Fitness is opening its largest location in the nation in Sioux Falls.

The fitness center is taking over the former Gordmans on the campus of The Empire Mall with a 60,000-square-foot gym, Crunch Fitness announced.

The $6 million buildout will include cardio equipment, a large free-weight section, classes, multiple turf areas, hydromassage, HIITZone, boxing, UV tanning and a babysitting area.

See an animated tour below.

“Demolition and construction is going to start very, very soon,” said Hiba Abduljawad, chief marketing officer for the Crunch Fitness Orlando-based franchise group. “I think within Sioux Falls, that market is largely underserved for high-value, low-price models, so it just made sense to be there. Our membership starts at $9.99 (per month) so it fits everybody’s budgets and we accept everybody regardless of your fitness level, whether you’re a seasoned athlete or professional body builder or first-time gym-goer.”

Crunch Fitness plans to offer at least 50 classes per week in Sioux Falls including early morning and late evening, she said.

Gordmans closed in September 2020. Since then, the building at times has been used a seasonal location for Spirit Halloween.

The Crunch Fitness business model offers a range of memberships as well as day passes.

There are more than 400 locations nationwide, and this will be the first in South Dakota. Abduljawad’s franchise group owns roughly 10 percent of the brand’s total locations, with 35 open and 10 more in development.

Because the Sioux Falls location is the largest, it will have multiple turf areas, more space between cardio equipment, a large variety of free weights and a sizable kids’ area, she said.

The hope is to be open by some time in November.

“For now, this is going to be the flagship location, but that does not rule out that we will have more than one location in Sioux Falls,” Abduljawad said.

The plan is to hire locally for between 100 and 150 positions, she added.

“That’s going to be huge for us. As soon as we have a team out there on the ground, hopefully end of this month, we’re starting the hiring process aggressively,” she said. “We need an army.”