Co-owners Rachael Hughes and Giavana de Zitter have signed a lease at 1526 Main Street for their second Barre Centric location. They will be expanding their barre fitness studio downtown and residing in the 1,500 square foot location in the Fenton Village, next to the planned Ashkar’s juice bar.
Barre Centric’s first studio opened in 2012 in Clarence as the first studio dedicated to barre fitness classes in Western New York. Clarence high school graduates and Buffalo natives Hughes and de Zitter wanted to bring the barre fitness craze to their hometown and offer something unique and different to the area. They combined their dance and fitness backgrounds to create effective, fun, and safe workouts tailored to the female body. Classes focus on arms, thighs, seat, and abdominal muscles and use isometric movements to fatigue and work muscles groups, followed by lengthening stretches to form longer, leaner muscles.
Since the inception, the studio has seen several women’s bodies transform into longer, leaner figures.
With packed classes and wait lists for almost every class, Hughes and de Zitter are thrilled to expand into the downtown area and offer a second studio for their existing clients as well as attract new clients from the downtown market.
“Buffalo has seen a great deal of change in the past couple of years,” says Hughes. “With the rejuvenation and construction around the Harbor, a growing medical campus, and more and more people moving downtown into newly remodeled living spaces, we see now more than ever a great opportunity to bring Barre Centric downtown.”
The studio is expected to open September 1st and is currently being used by building owner Sinatra & Company Realty as a project management office.
Eight luxury loft apartments are planned 1526 Main’s upper two floors. Units range in size from a 912 sq.ft. one-bedroom to a two-bedroom unit with 1,251 sq.ft. of living space. Two of the third floor units will have lofted sleeping areas. The renovation project, now underway, is expected to be completed this fall.
“We knew we wanted to be part of the great transformation that is happening in this great city and we saw the Fenton Village space not for what it looks like today, but what we believe the area will look like in the future,” add Hughes. “Our goal is to help make the city of Buffalo a healthier and better place to live.”
Get Connected: Barre Centric, 716.276.8349
Painted advertising recently exposed at 1526 Main Street