Bar Method gym based on ballet to open in downtown Detroit

The Bar Method, a fitness studio franchise that bases its workouts on ballet exercises using stationary handrails known as barres, is set to open Thursday in downtown Detroit as one of the latest in a spate of health clubs and gyms investing in Michigan.

"As more and more people start to move into the area and just really want to live here and be downtown, they want a place to work out that's somewhere within walking distance from where they live and work," said Christina Carroll, franchise co-owner. "I moved downtown and I thought to myself, 'You know what: I love Bar Method workout. There's nowhere down here to work out. Maybe, I should start one.' "

Carroll — along with co-owner Amelia Patt Zamir — said they began planning their 3,100-square-foot studio at 607 Shelby about a year ago.

The Bar Method's announcement comes just a few days after New York-based Blink Fitness, in partnership with Saginaw-native and NBA champion Draymond Green, said it plans to open as many as 20 gyms in Michigan and Illinois.

And Planet Fitness, a Hampton, N.H.-based fitness club, announced last month it aims to open its first franchise in Detroit in May.

A Northville-based Planet Fitness franchise group, which owns 39 Planet Fitness gyms in Michigan and Ohio, said it plans to invest $2.5 million to $2.7 million to set up a 30,000-square-foot gym on the lower level of 1400 Woodbridge St. in Detroit near the riverfront.

Read more:

Planet Fitness gym coming to downtown Detroit

Weighty investment: Draymond buys into gym venture

The Bar Method, based in San Francisco, was founded by Burr Leonard, a ballet and jazz dance lover. She wanted to create an exercise technique that would empower women, according to the company's website.

There are now more than 100 bar studios.

The company's Detroit franchise will be the first in Michigan. 

Carroll said she and Zamir plan to offer four one-hour classes Monday through Friday, and two classes on Saturday. One class will cost $25, or $99 to join to take an unlimited number of classes the first month and $175 a month after that.

So far, the owners said, about 30 people have joined the studio.

"We've had our challenges, certainly," Carroll said. "But, generally when you get connected to the community downtown everybody's hustling. Everybody's trying to make it work, and we've found the fitness community so supportive."

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.

The Bar Method

Address: 607 Shelby, Suite 300; Detroit

Square feet: 3,100

Website: www.barmethod.com/detroit-downtown