The new owners of the Penticton Racquet and Fitness Club are thrilled to be back in British Columbia and they have plans to not only run a successful gym and squash club, but to also open a new pub-restaurant.
Ken and Tricia Roy took over possession of the longtime racquet and fitness club, located on Okanagan Avenue East, earlier this week.
The Roy’s entered into negotiations with longtime owners Jordan and Stephanie Iannone several months ago - the Iannone family had owned and operated the business for almost a decade.
The Roy’s, who have been married almost seven years, come to Penticton from Chestermere, Alberta.
Both Ken and Tricia were born and raised in British Columbia and they had been looking at business opportunities that would bring them back home for some time.
“We looked at every kind of business up for sale in the book to try and find something to get to B.C.,” said Ken. “I’m originally from Victoria and Trish is from Sicamous, so we were looking for a good business that had been around for awhile and had enjoyed some success.”
Tricia said she and her husband found out the business was for sale in late March and quickly paid a visit to Penticton in early April.
“So we came out in early April and started looking and at that point decided to put an offer in,” she said. “It has been a few months of negotiating and working out the details and finally we’re here.”
He and his wife “shared a healthy lifestyle when they were younger and we both kind of steered away from it, so it was something we were kind of interested in, so we wanted to promote it and get back into it ourselves,” said Ken.
“We had looked at a gym in Mexico awhile back and get of got us really interested and we talked and figured this was something we could do.”
With this club having an attached restaurant and pub, he and his wife thought this was too good an opportunity to pass up, he said.
“We just think this is a great opportunity.”
Ken has a 14-year-old daughter from a previous marriage who just moved to Kelowna and they have a five-year-old son who has already loves his life in Penticton and is looking forward to starting school in September, he said.
Not only is the entire building in mint condition from top to bottom, but the fitness equipment, two squash courts and one racquetball court are also in great shape, he said.
In only a few short days, they’re impressed by just how friendly the members are.
“Everyone is so friendly and the people that come in … everyone knows each other and it has been great.” he said. “We don’t want to change anything. We want to see how everything plays out because what they’ve done here has been excellent and all the members seem really happy.”
A goal early on will be to build the popularity of squash and racquetball in and around Penticton, he said.
“We plan on getting together with the squash players and racquetball players and find out exactly what they want,” he said. “It’s not something we know. We know nothing about squash or racquetball … so we want to keep everything the same and talk about what the players want and we’ll go that way.”
The club currently has 700 members and as new owners, they are going to start an advertising and marketing campaign to increase those numbers.
The club is beautifully laid out with a large main gym with state-of-the-art equipment, separate smaller gym for women, large studio with two dozen cardiovascular training machines, training room for fitness classes and yoga, pilates room, two squash courts, one racquetball court, a personal training gym and pub and restaurant, he said.
“It’s got everything you would want,” he said. “You couldn’t ask more from a club.”
Being able to live in the Okanagan while owning and operating their new business is a huge bonus, he said.
“It’s absolutely paradise here,” he said. “The heat and temperature are fantastic and then you have the lakes and vineyards are gorgeous. We love it.”
The current pub-restaurant is going to be converted in the very near future, he said.
“We’ve got two options,” he said. “We’re looking at either an Italian pizzeria with a guy from Italy we know who uses gas-fired pizza ovens to make authentic Italian pizzas. We’re looking at that. But we’re also looking at maybe a family member taking on a new pub. He’s got some experience with running a pub. We want to keep it a real nice place for the squash players and wallyball players and other members to come to after they’re finished working out or playing.”
For more about the Penticton Racquet and Fitness Club, click here.
You can also contact the club at 250-493-3488.
