Joe and Adrian Blandford are the new owners of FitnessWorks in Morro Bay. Photo by Neil Farrell
For over three decades, it’s been the premier full service fitness center on the North Coast, and FitnessWorks in Morro Bay is shaping up to open a new chapter.
FitnessWorks, located at 500 Quintana Rd., is undergoing a change in owners, as the long-time owners, Debbie and Joe Pettit completed the sale of the gym to Joe and Adrian Blandford of Los Osos, who own their own little workout studio, Sweat Therapy.
“We’ve been contemplating the sale of FitnessWorks for a while,” the Pettits said in a Facebook post to their over 600 members, “but the challenge was to find a buyer with a rare combination of community, fitness knowledge and business acumen.
“Joe and Adrian Blandford check all the boxes and we’re confident they will continue to provide over the top customer service in a professional, but fun gym environment, always with the best interest of our members and staff in mind.”
Estero Bay News sat down with the Blandfords last week, interrupting for a short time what is an extremely busy period for them as they learn the ropes of running such a large and diverse operation.
The building, formerly a Thrifty’s Drug Store houses more than one independent business. There’s TherapyWorks, a physical therapy office that treats injured folks and is owned by Ross Dover. There’s also MassageWorks, a massage therapy business owned by Elizabeth Uhrig.
“We bought FitnessWorks,” explained Adrian. That part of the business, some 19,000 square feet, includes the weight room as well as exercise classrooms offering yoga, spin, zumba and more. They have over 600 members who hail from mostly the North Coast — from Cambria to Los Osos, and over 30 employees.
It’s a lot to absorb for two people with physical therapy and training backgrounds who operate a small boutique training studio. “Debbie and Joe have been so kind to take us under their wing,” Adrian said.
But they aren’t new to running a business. In addition to the Sweat Therapy gym Joe also is a painting contractor and owner of California Joe’s Painting, something he plans to continue with.
Joe is originally from Atascadero, he explained and Adrian hails from a small town in Southern Illinois. She moved to the Central Coast from Los Angeles. They met in 2009 while both were working as personal trainers at Kennedy Club Fitness in Atascadero, she said.
Like many people here, they’ve lived a somewhat nomadic life moving several times over the ensuing years. They’ve called Cayucos and Morro Bay home, migrated back to Illinois for a while before coming back to California so Adrian could go back to school to earn a degree in exercise science.
“I’ve been working in this business since 2003, in high school,” she recalled. “We’ve always been in the fitness industry.”
Joe said after Kennedy Club they both had ideas of owning their own gym. “We thought about opening in Cayucos,” he said. When Los Osos Fitness closed several years ago, after the owner retired, they thought about moving into that space, but it didn’t pan out, and now Miner’s Hardware has expanded into the old Los Osos Fitness spot.
Sweat Therapy opened about 3-years ago and features personal training, a sauna and cold plunge. “It’s sort of our passion,” Joe said. “That’s what got the ball rolling.”
The painting started in 2014 back in Illinois, after his trainer work slowed down, he recalled. He paints commercial properties and houses — interiors and exteriors. People kept asking him if he was that “California Joe” painter guy? When they returned to California, he admits he liked it and the name stuck.
Both say they saw there was a need for a fitness center in Los Osos and they looked for a location, but couldn’t find anywhere that might work.
“It just wasn’t feasible,” Adrian said. “The rents were astronomical.”
Then one of the Sweat Therapy clients mentioned the Pettits were talking about retiring. And last August, they met with them for the first time. And as of April 1 their dream will be realized.
They take over a beloved and well-equipped facility that has hundreds of loyal members and offers something for just about everyone. What’s the demographic like?
Joe said, “We do have a large senior community here.” They have a special program, Silver Sneakers, an insurance-based membership wherein a person’s insurance — including Medicare and Medi-Cal — pays the monthly dues.
“It’s a really cool program,” Joe said, “We intend to keep that going.”
He added that they also have a large number of younger members. “It’s a realhome town gym,” he said. Adrian added that some of their members have been with FitnessWorks for more than 30 years. “And they’re happy. That says a lot about the owners,” she said. “This has been around over 34 years.”
Joe said, “That’s a rarity these days.”
It could be the variety of classes they offer — over 45. “A wide variety of things happen here,” Adrian, who is 41, said.
Joe said there is such a need for physical fitness today, for the young and the old. “It’s really medicine,” Joe, 39, said. “It’s important to provide that, and get people to get their bodies moving.”
“Fitness brings joy,” Adrian said. “It brings out the best in us.”
Told that they look young for their ages, Adrian replied, “It’s all the exercise. It keeps us young. That’s a big reason why we do it.”
Joe joked, “Of course our kids [ages 5 and 6] think we’re old.”
FitnessWorks is open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays-Fridays; Saturdays 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sundays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. They will be closed April 5 for Easter.
See the website at: fitnessworksmb.com for information on classes and other offerings (TherapyWorks and MassageWorks also have links off this website).
They are planning to celebrate the new owners and throw a retirement party for the former owners from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 15 for club members. They will have cake and punch available.
