A steady stream of cars is pulling into the narrow driveway off Ventura Boulevard in the Sherman Oaks Village despite the parking attendant on location who tries to wave them off because there is no more room. It is Saturday morning, and as usual, the Tae Bo classes at Billy Blanks World Training Center are packed, with streams of (mostly) women lining up to secure their place in the next of the back-to-back classes that begin at 7:30 a.m. and run through the afternoon. The World Training Center has been drawing these types of crowds since it opened at its current location more than 10 years ago, but in November, the facility will close down, a victim of the rising price of real estate along Ventura Boulevard and city regulations that impose stiff parking requirements for fitness centers. “The current location is closing effective Nov. 18,” said Michael Crum, business manager for the company. “We haven’t finalized a location to which we will be moving, and there may be a brief hiatus because of the holiday, but we don’t anticipate a permanent closing.” The building that has housed the facility since it moved from tiny, cramped quarters a few blocks to the east, is slated for redevelopment, and the lease on the World Training Center has expired. “Our lease came up at the end of May this year, and it was just time to really put our feet to the fire and find an alternate location,” Crum said. “Our clients deserve a facility that is in better repair with better parking and better ingress and egress.” Billy Blank’s World Training Center is not the first gym to face such real estate problems, but it may be the only one whose relocation engenders such personal feelings among members. Largely by word of mouth, the center’s local following had grown to proportions rarely seen for a single exercise style long before Billy Blank’s videos and accompanying infomercials made Tae Bo a national phenomenon. Many of the women at the center on a recent Saturday morning said they didn’t even want to discuss the move. As one said, “I’m taking it a day at a time. It’s only September. It’s not happening until November.” Those who did, expressed their feelings in the most personal of terms. “Most of the people here, they were very sad,” said Zohreh Basl, who said she had been coming to the classes for about a year. “It’s just like a family when you go through a divorce. I feel like a child when the parents get divorced.” The World Training Center is a family-owned business, with Billy and his daughter Shellie Blanks Cimarosti still teaching many of the classes, and the approximately 10,000 members who attend seem to feel a part of the family. “There’s certainly an energy that comes with this family,” said Caroline, another avid fan who has been coming to the World Training Center for more than five years. “This is a big part of our lives.” Although officials have not yet made a decision on a new location, chances are the center will not be relocating anywhere close to its current quarters. Even if officials could find a space large enough to house the facility in Sherman Oaks or neighboring Studio City, where many of its clients reside, it is almost certain that the space will not be sufficient to accommodate the city’s parking requirements, higher for fitness centers than any other form of retail use including restaurants, at 10 spaces per 1,000 square feet of space. Neighbor Barry’s Bootcamp had few options when it chose the Valley for its second location. “We are very fortunate to have found the La Reina Plaza,” said John Mumford, co-owner of the fitness center that opened in Sherman Oaks about two- and one-half years ago. “We actually courted the landlord when we found this spot and had to persuade the landlord that our business model was for real.” Parking factor Barry’s, which has operated a location in West Hollywood since 1998, had only one alternative to the Sherman Oaks location, a spot along Ventura Boulevard in Studio City’s Village area. The deciding factor for the company was the parking at La Reina, which has a two level underground garage. “The problem with Studio City is that there just are no buildings of scale that provide adequate parking,” Mumford said. “You’re on Ventura Boulevard, and it makes it very difficult.” Mumford isn’t certain that the displaced Billy Blanks clients will necessarily choose Barry’s Bootcamp as an alternative. “I think there’s enough business to go around, and what we do is different from what Billy does,” he said. “Will we welcome people that attended Billy’s regularly? Absolutely. But at the same time, I think there’s room for both.” Since it opened at its current location, the World Training Center has expanded several times, now taking up about four floors. In addition to the Tae Bo floor, there is a boxing ring, a child care area and a space for private training. Crum said that the choices the company is now exploring are configured differently, but the new facility will certainly include space for the Tae Bo workouts and personal training. The real question is how the new location will affect clients, many of whom now come from the West Side. “It’s a very difficult decision,” Crum said. “We have a lot of people who come over the hill to work out on a daily basis, and it’s a very difficult decision.” Most gyms are able to draw only from the immediate area, but some Billy Blanks’ clients like Thousand Oaks resident Jennifer, who is herself a fitness instructor also in Thousand Oaks, already travel a lot farther. “I come three times a week,” she said. “I teach classes, so I really need somebody to motivate me, and this is it.”
Popular Billy Blanks Training Center To Close Location in Sherman Oaks Fernando Winner
