Owner Gretchen Stumpf at the City Barre front desk. (Mike Platania)
The trend of barre fitness gyms has spread to Scott’s Addition.
City Barre, which offers workouts that blend ballet, strength training, yoga and pilates, opened over Labor Day weekend at 1404 Belleville St.
Owner Gretchen Stumpf left a 16-year job in health care logistics to launch City Barre, after she’d been teaching barre and other fitness classes for four years.
“(Teaching) is a great thing to do, but it’s not going to pay the bills,” Stumpf said of her decision to move full-time into owning her own studio. “It was something I’d considered for a long time, and I’m friends with a number of women who own their own studios and they’re really inspiring.”
She’d said the career change already has been refreshing.
“It’s been totally awesome and so rewarding. I cried after one of the first classes,” Stumpf said, laughing.
Classes at City Barre can fit up to 20 people comfortably. (Mike Platania)
Stumpf said she teaches classes and has three instructors on staff, with two more joining soon.
The studio holds about 17 classes per week, with drop-in classes at $22. Multiclass and unlimited packages also are available.
In addition to the class area, City Barre’s 1,600-square-foot space features an office, lounge, changing room and outdoor patio.
“I want it to be more than a ‘go in, get the workout done and leave’ type of place. I knew I’d be hanging out here a lot, so why not make it cool?” Stumpf said.
“I (also) want to take advantage of the patio with a fire pit out back.”
The space is across from Scott’s View, a new development where two apartment towers are under construction.
A former runner and CrossFit practitioner, Stumpf said she’s known for offering harder classes than most.
“That’s the great thing with barre. You can always modify the workout down to be easier. There’s kind of a reputation I’ve gathered over the years of my classes being pretty challenging. We’re sticking with that,” she said.
In Short Pump, national franchise Pure Barre is preparing to open a third area location in the GreenGate development.
Owner Gretchen Stumpf at the City Barre front desk. (Mike Platania)
The trend of barre fitness gyms has spread to Scott’s Addition.
City Barre, which offers workouts that blend ballet, strength training, yoga and pilates, opened over Labor Day weekend at 1404 Belleville St.
Owner Gretchen Stumpf left a 16-year job in health care logistics to launch City Barre, after she’d been teaching barre and other fitness classes for four years.
“(Teaching) is a great thing to do, but it’s not going to pay the bills,” Stumpf said of her decision to move full-time into owning her own studio. “It was something I’d considered for a long time, and I’m friends with a number of women who own their own studios and they’re really inspiring.”
She’d said the career change already has been refreshing.
“It’s been totally awesome and so rewarding. I cried after one of the first classes,” Stumpf said, laughing.
Classes at City Barre can fit up to 20 people comfortably. (Mike Platania)
Stumpf said she teaches classes and has three instructors on staff, with two more joining soon.
The studio holds about 17 classes per week, with drop-in classes at $22. Multiclass and unlimited packages also are available.
In addition to the class area, City Barre’s 1,600-square-foot space features an office, lounge, changing room and outdoor patio.
“I want it to be more than a ‘go in, get the workout done and leave’ type of place. I knew I’d be hanging out here a lot, so why not make it cool?” Stumpf said.
“I (also) want to take advantage of the patio with a fire pit out back.”
The space is across from Scott’s View, a new development where two apartment towers are under construction.
A former runner and CrossFit practitioner, Stumpf said she’s known for offering harder classes than most.
“That’s the great thing with barre. You can always modify the workout down to be easier. There’s kind of a reputation I’ve gathered over the years of my classes being pretty challenging. We’re sticking with that,” she said.
In Short Pump, national franchise Pure Barre is preparing to open a third area location in the GreenGate development.
Welcome neighbor. Gretchen convinced me to take a class and it was awesome. Great workout – hard yet refreshing