Stronger Than Ever

Powerhouse Gym recently opened its largest location. Offerings include a full-sized swimming pool and a cold plunge.

Powerhouse Gym opens new, larger facility

By Paul Natinsky

The Dabish family, fitness industry innovators for more than half a century, are at it again. This time, however, their focus is not on expanding their exercise expertise nationwide or internationally, refining their self-taught marketing approach, or even partnering with other gyms during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure safe reopenings.

“We just opened the largest Powerhouse Gym in the world,” said Powerhouse CEO Henry Dabish.

Located on the endcap of the old Lakeside Mall, the new club occupies both stories of a space previously occupied by now-bankrupt Carson’s department store. The mall is now called Partridge Creek and is located at 17480 Hall Road in Clinton Township in Macomb County.

The 120,000-square-foot space surpasses Powerhouse Gym’s previous largest location, which measured 70,000 square feet. Powerhouse founder Will Dabish, Henry’s father, scouted the site alongside Henry’s younger brother, Victor, conducting much of the early research on both the property and the surrounding market.

“It’s gigantic, it’s huge,” said Henry Dabish. “I don’t want to say that this is the model going forward, but the club is doing well,” he said.

Presales began in August and have been strong. “When the gym opened in January…it was a really incredible turnout as far as new memberships, people who just wanted to check the club out,” he said. “People were driving for an hour just to see the club and the new equipment that we brought in from pretty much all over the world.”

Competition for the new club abounds, beginning with and LA Fitness location in the parking lot and Planet Fitness and Lifetime Fitness nearby.

Powering Ahead of the Competition

“Everyone’s already there…some of the clubs are older, they’re tired, they’ve been there 10 or 15 years,” said Dabish. “So we figure if we come in with a new club that is bigger and nicer than everything in the area, we should do really well with that.”

Powerhouse Gym has a long history and solid reputation for running serious workout facilities. Its gyms feature top-end equipment, well-researched and innovative amenities, and a safe and positive fitness environment for female members, among their selling points.

In addition to its trademark abundance of hard-to-find equipment and serious workout environment, the new facility leases space to a Pure Green Juice Bar and Detroit Medical Center Physical Therapy location. It also features a pro shop, Wellness House recovery area featuring cold plunges and a posing room for taking photos for social media.

More traditional offerings include a yoga studio, a cycle room, swimming pool, hot tub and dry sauna, full size basketball court, locker rooms, personal trainers and fitness classes.

Competitors are all over the map, literally and in terms of pricing and offerings. Planet Fitness doesn’t offer the same level of amenities, but features a price point of around $20. LA Fitness offers members more workout options and amenities for $30 to $44 per month. Lifetime Fitness comes closest to what the new Powerhouse offers, but charges $180 to $240 per month.

By comparison, Powerhouse Gym memberships range from $55 to $75 per month, according to Dabish.

“We feel we are just as nice if not nicer than Lifetime and much newer, and they are charging triple what we’re charging.”

Looking Ahead

The new club was a long time coming and created its share of challenges. But there always seems to be more on the horizon for the Dabishes.

Alongside Henry, the business includes his father Will, brother Victor, brothers William Jr. and Michael, and cousin Jonathan Dabish, each involved in different aspects of operations. Henry said he expects the next year to be another busy one for the family.

Henry envisions continued out-of-state and international growth through licenses. He expects to maintain a pace of eight to 10 U.S. licenses per year and another five or six international licenses. Additionally, Dabish would like to open one corporate club per year in the 30,000 to 70,000 square foot range.

With all this time spent at work, does Henry find time to work out?

Dabish maintains a slender, but fit, build. And yes, amid all of the work he puts in at Powerhouse, he still finds his way to the gym floor. “I’m doing like three days a week, but not too intense right now,” he said.