The large Esporta Fitness Center in Cherry Hill closes this Thursday December 19th at 2:00 PM.
Owned by LA Fitness, it is the third Esporta branded gym to close in South Jersey this year, with Somerdale and Woodbury Heights closed as of April 1st.
This latest closure is in the Plaza at Cherry Hill Shopping Center which is adjacent to the Cherry Hill Mall. Within the same building is Raymour and Flanigan, Chuck E Cheese and the Dick’s Sporting Goods Outlet. Also within the extended center is an ALDI Grocery, Guitar Center, Total Wine, and the new Savers Thrift Store.
The LA Fitness shows 30 other locations open in New Jersey, with South Jersey locations still open in Mount Laurel, Marlton, Turnersville and Glassboro.
The LA Fitness website states that have over 800 clubs nationwide, although their most recent press release from this summer states they have over 700 locations across 27 U.S. States and Canada.
The company maintains two different websites for Esporta and LA Fitness, and I noticed for New Jersey only the Cherry Hill location is listed at the Esporta site. A reader informs me that the Glassboro and Turnersville locations have been rebranded back to LA Fitness… indications that the Esporta brand is disapearing?
As a privately held company they are not required to divulge sales numbers or really any type of information to the public at all. With that stated, just like the prior two South Jersey Closings I could not find any statement from the brand regarding reasons for closing Cherry Hill.
This news of Esporta Cherry Hill closing was first reported on November 26th by the Courier-Post and the Patch. It seems the announcement was made simply by the gym placing an announcement flyer on the front glass, and a gym member posted on Facebook a photo of that sign which was picked up by local media.
The notice simply gives the closing date and time, and states member’s access will expand to include all of the LA Fitness owned facilities nationwide, including Signature Clubs. A few days later a second flyer was added which listed reduced hours as of Dec 1, and the closing of the Cherry Hill location’s “Kids Clubs”.
Future for Esporta Cherry Hill Space?
Leasing for the Plaza at Cherry Hill is handled by CBRE, and in their updated website and brochure listing for the property they show architect renderings for a fully remodeled shopping center.
This is very recently updated as the former gym space is shown as being redeveloped into multiple smaller retail units… with entrances on the building’s front and side.
Likely these are just ideas that the property owner Urban Edge is putting out there to attract tenants. While I don’t believe anyone has signed on to take over any of the former gym space, I’m sure they would entertain another gym owner if one were to show up… but then ownership is also clearly showing that they are open to dividing the space.
Regardless of how that property is utilized I would imagine it’s going to attract quick attention from retailers as it is a prominent location at one of the main entrance points into the Cherry Hill Mall and Plaza shopping complexes…. one of South Jersey’s top shopping destinations.
For the Woodbury Heights and Somerdale former Esporta locations, both have received some attention from other retailers.
Woodbury Heights was opened this fall as a seasonal Spirit Halloween store.
The bigger change is proposed for Somerdale where Nova Adventure Park is planning an indoor trampoline and children’s activities/obstacle course space at the Cooper Towne Center property (I need to follow up on this).
I reached out to Commercial Real Estate company CBRE yesterday to ask if I could use images from the listing, and asked a few questions regarding future plans for the space and shopping center. They did respond, saying my inquiry was being directed to property owner Urban Edge. As of publication of this article I did not receive a follow-up from Urban Edge.
Links and Location
Esporta Fitness Gym Cherry Hill – Closing
2100 Route 38
Cherry Hill Township, NJ 08002