Southeastern Fitness Equipment opens second store
Owner Bart Cappabianca announces Tampa opening and says expansion is on track with growth plan announced in May following debut of Southeastern Fitness in Orlando, Fla.
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On Monday, Southeastern Fitness Equipment opened the doors of its new Tampa location.
Owner Bart Cappabianca announced the opening on Monday, and said it was right on track with the growth plans he announced back in May after opening the first Southeastern Fitness Equipment location in Orlando, Fla.
“I wanted to act sooner than later to keep Life Fitness from opening [another retailer] over there,” Cappibianca explained. “They fully supported me. We’ve had our discussions with them on where they would like us to open a location and Tampa was always a priority for them. Obviously I think the timing was right for everybody involved.”
Cappabianca signed the lease on the property about 45 days ago and has hired longtime fitness industry veteran Chris Baran to be the Tampa location’s managing partner. Baran recently left his post at Gym Source, where he’d worked for nearly five years, to take the position.
The space in Tampa is around 1,300 square feet, Cappabianca said, which should allow the company to have a good-sized show room.
Cappabianca said Baran is looking for a part-time employee to oversee the vertical and light commercial side of the business much like Dylan Smith does at the Orlando store.
“He hit the ground running he’s done very well doing something I’ve always wanted to focus on,” the vertical and light commercial market. Since he started, Baran has focused on apartment complexes, country clubs and most recently a chiropractic facility. The latter was outfitted with vibration trainers, Cappabianca explained.
Both stores carry Life Fitness, Torque Fitness, PowerVibe, Water Rower and Vision Fitness products.
