SYRACUSE — Strides of CNY, LLC stepped into a new location in the city of Syracuse at the end of January. The strength and conditioning firm moved into 4,800 square feet of space at 738 Spencer St. It gained more space in its relocation — and it proceeded into a more central location. “We’ve got […]
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SYRACUSE — Strides of CNY, LLC stepped into a new location in the city of Syracuse at the end of January.
The strength and conditioning firm moved into 4,800 square feet of space at 738 Spencer St. It gained more space in its relocation — and it proceeded into a more central location.
“We’ve got all these local businesses in the area,” says Michael Derecola, owner of Strides and its head strength and conditioning specialist. “We have Syracuse University, we have Le Moyne College. We have soccer centers that are closer, the Syracuse Soccer Academy right up the road, and the mall’s nearby. There’s a lot of traffic in this area.”
Before moving, Strides was at the CNY Family Sports Centre at 7201 Jones Road in Van Buren. It leased about 4,000 square feet of space there.
Its new space has a lounge with a refrigerator, microwave, and blender for athletes. It also offers a different feel, according to Derecola.
“I think what we wanted to do was provide a more private environment with more space to do what we wanted and to cater to a population that’s interested in what we do,” he says.
What Strides caters to is a wide range of athletes, athletic hopefuls, and fitness buffs. The firm’s clients range from elementary-school students — children ages 8, 9, and 10 — through college athletes, professional athletes, and older adults in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s.
Professional athletes who train at Strides include those in soccer, ice hockey, and mixed martial arts, according to Derecola, who is a former head athletic trainer for the Syracuse Crunch. Those who aren’t students or athletes may be training for triathlons or marathons, or they might just want to lose weight or get in shape for weekend golf outings, he says.
Services Strides offers include sports-performance training, adult functional training, boot camps, cardio kickboxing, boxing lessons, and self-defense classes. Derecola is also looking into other fitness classes like Yoga, Zumba, and salsa dancing. And the business includes conditioning, strength, and nutrition programs.
“A lot of the big-box gyms basically want your money,” Derecola says. “They don’t want you to come back. We want you to come back and get results. You’re getting guidance, you’re getting direction, and you’re paying for a service rather than just space or equipment.”
Strides renovated its space at 738 Spencer St., updating its bathrooms, adding new carpet, and applying coats of paint where necessary. The address had been a warehouse, so it needed some work, Derecola says.
The company performed the updates itself. It employs one person besides Derecola, and it also has two interns.
Two employees has been standard staffing for Strides over the years, according to Derecola, who founded the company in 2003. But he may take on more interns in the future, because exercise-science degrees seem to be becoming more popular at colleges, he says.
Moving into Syracuse could help Strides boost its revenue by as much as 20 percent to 30 percent in 2013, he adds before declining to share specific revenue totals. Marketing strategies include word-of-mouth and coupons sold by the online service LivingSocial.
About 75 to 100 people currently visit Strides’ location in any given week. Derecola also trains teams at Le Moyne College and the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego. He estimates he trains about 100 individuals at Le Moyne and around 30 at SUNY Oswego.
Rawanco LLC of Lysander owns the property Strides is leasing. Allegiance Realty, LLC of Syracuse brokered the lease.
Sports-performance training and adult training at Strides cost between $75 and $780 a month, depending on the type and frequency of training, according to the company’s website. Personal training ranges from $60 for a single one-hour session to $840 for 24 sessions that each last one hour.
“We started with athletes, and started with hockey players,” Derecola says. “Then it progressed into what we’ve got going on now, which is getting bigger and bigger each year.”
Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com
