Double Edge Fitness opens second location

A local CrossFit gym opened their second location in South Reno and is hosting a grand opening celebration Saturday, April 30.

Double Edge Fitness opened their new 10,500-square-foot gym earlier this month. The gym is located at 6450 South Virginia Street near the Home Depot.

“We provide a space that is comfortable to any age and any athletic ability,” Joel Cochran, marketing director and coach at Double Edge, said.

The new location includes stationary bikes, rowing machines, weighted exercise balls, barbells, free weights and more. It also includes locker rooms, a kid’s area as well as a separate training area and members lounge. Double Edge worked with BeaverFit USA, a company based out of Sparks that manufactures and designs training equipment, to custom build the equipment in the training area.

Between the two locations, they have 13 employees, with seven of them full time, and around 330 members. The growth of their membership at their Midtown location and the available space in South Reno provided an opportune time to open a second location.

“All the chips fell into a row,” Cochran said.

Double Edge purchased the building end of September 2015 from Walgreens, which previously owned and occupied the space. However, the building is best remembered for housing Tower Records. After acquiring the building, they started renovations for the gym that October. Renovations included replacing the HVAC, adding and removing walls and building the members lounge.

“Our big (goal) is to revitalize Reno and this area,” Cochran said.

They also revitalized their original Midtown location, which had previously been an adult bookstore but had been vacant for sometime. After major renovations they were able to create a vibrant gym.

The business’ new location allows it to provide a closer option for residents of South Reno and it is near businesses like NV Energy, Intuit and more.

According to Cochran, Double Edge is working with Intuit’s health coordinator to be part of a corporate fitness program for Intuit’s employees. They hope that they can partner with other businesses to create similar programs.

A lot of the business’ growth has happened organically through a common passion for CrossFit and fitness.

“Everyone has a their story of how they found CrossFit,” Cochran said. “Once we found CrossFit it transformed us and changed us.”

This includes Double Edge’s owners, brothers Derek and Jacob Wellock.

According to Cochran, Derek was working at Western Nevada Supply and he came to a point when he made a change in his career. He started training and eventually became the general manager at Mayberry Athletic Center.

This led Derek to want to open his own fitness business, but he did not have the capital. Arthur and Vikki Anderson offered to be investors in the new business venture. Arthur is also now a CrossFit coach for Double Edge.

With the financial backing, Jacob joined his brother and together with a small team of employees they opened the first Double Edge location in Midtown in January 2014.

Double Edge provides CrossFit and yoga classes for all levels. According to Cochran, they don’t do a lot of marketing for the business but rather work to invest in their members.

“There is a stigma about CrossFit,” he said. People believe that they have to be already fit or have a certain athletic ability to do CrossFit. If they already have that mindset we are not going to change it he said. We need someone they already know, trust and have a rapport with to introduce them to CrossFit.

“Our members facilitate what the business is all about,” Cochran said.

The cost for membership at Double Edge is $179 a month. According the Cochran, fitness and health, like many other goals in life, requires an investment.

“Fitness is about a lifestyle change, not about a diet,” Cochran said.

Double Edge will be hosting their grand opening at the new location from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, April 30. Activities will include guided tours of the new gym, food from Battle Born Food Truck, a raffle, a bounce house and games for kids and more. They will also offer a promotion for new members that includes one month of unlimited CrossFit, yoga and a Double Edge T-shirt for $30.

For more information about Double Edge Fitness, go to www.doubleedgefitness.com.