Hot exercise-equipment store coming to Indy

Peloton, which makes high-tech stationary bikes for at-home use, plans to open its first Indiana showroom at the Fashion Mall at Keystone.

Peloton was unable to provide a spokesperson by IBJ’s deadline to talk about its plans, including when the showroom will open. But according to a permit filed with the city, Peloton plans to move into a 2,028-square-foot space on the first floor of the mall, between Altar’d State and Kiehl’s.

Founded in 2012, the New York City-based company has developed a loyal following. According to a story published last month by CNBC, Peloton has already sold 400,000 bikes, and late last year the company also began selling treadmills.

The company says about 65 percent of its purchases are made online, but it also has a network of showrooms across the country where customers can see the equipment, take a trial class and make purchases for home delivery later. 

Peloton has 58 showrooms in the U.S., six in Canada and five in England. Peloton also has equipment available for guest use at select Westin hotels around the U.S., including the Westin Indianapolis.

Currently, Peloton’s closest showrooms to Indiana are in Chicago, Cincinnati and Nashville, Tennessee.

Customers who buy Peloton equipment can access live and archived class sessions for the experience of taking a fitness class at home.

According to the company’s website, customers pay $1,995 for a bike, plus an additional $250 delivery fee. Treadmills cost $3,995, plus an additional $300 delivery fee. Customers pay an additional monthly membership fee of $39 to stream Peloton's live classes.

The company also sells accessories, including cycling shoes, headphones and heart rate monitors.

In other news this week:

— Long Grove, Illinois-based Bentley’s Pet Stuff, which was in expansion mode around Indiana last year, closed six of its seven Indiana locations this week, including all of its Indianapolis locations. In April, IBJ reported openings for Bentley’s at 3857 E. 82nd St. on the north side of Indianapolis and 6280 N. College Ave. in Broad Ripple. Those were in addition to a store at 2902 W. 86th St. At the time, plans were also in the works for a Noblesville store at 16635 Mercantile Blvd. in Noblesville; 6424 Whitestown Parkway in Whitestown; and two Fort Wayne locations.

All of those locations, plus all of Bentley’s Ohio stores, closed at the end of business on Sunday, according to a post on the retailer’s Facebook page. One Indiana store, in Schererville, remains open. The Facebook post did not provide a reason for the closures. Reporters were directed to contact Bentley’s Founder and President Lisa Senafe via email. Senafe did not respond to an email sent on Wednesday afternoon.

— Big-box retailer At Home will add a fifth Indianapolis-area store, this one at 216 Gable Crossing Drive in Avon. The Plano, Texas-based home décor store has purchased the former Gander Mountain store in Avon, plus three acres of adjacent land, and plans to expand the existing building, bringing the store to 88,000 square feet and roughly doubling its former size, a company spokeswoman said.

The retailer said the Avon store should open this summer, but it has not announced a specific date. At Home has a total of seven Indiana stores: three in Indianapolis and one each in Noblesville, Lafayette, Merrillville and Evansville.

— The Subway at the northwest corner of Delaware and Market streets plans to begin a renovation and expansion next month that will bring the restaurant from about 1,200 square feet to about 1,900 square feet. Franchisee Terry Anthony said he plans to expand his restaurant into an adjacent space formerly occupied by The Coffee Cup at 156 E. Market St. At the same time, Anthony said, the restaurant will be remodeled using Subway’s new “Fresh Forward” design. Work should be complete this summer.

— Coffeehouse Five plans to open a second store this spring, this one at 41 W. Monroe St. in downtown Franklin. The coffee shop will take over a 4,250-square-foot space previously occupied by the home furnishings store The Marshmallow Monkey. That shop’s owners, Brandon and Nicole Nicoloff, relocated their business to their Morgan County farm. 

The husband-and-wife team of Brian and Michelle Peters opened the original Coffeehouse Five in downtown Greenwood in 2014, at 323 Market Plaza. Coffeehouse Five is at the same time a coffee shop and a church, Michelle Peters said. It sells fair-trade coffee and house-made baked goods and sandwiches. On Sundays, the facility becomes a worship space. The coffeehouse and church are two separate entities, Michelle Peters said. “I would say 75 percent of people have no idea we have a worship service on Sundays at 11 a.m.”

— Healthies, a smoothie and vitamin shop, plans to open next month in the Oaklandon Commons shopping center at 11915 Pendleton Pike, Suite I, on the city’s northeast side. The 1,590-square-foot shop, owned by Garrett Dewald, will sell Herbalife products. Healthies started in South Bend as Healthy Happies. The company now has 13 independently owned stores in the South Bend/La Porte/Elkhart area, Dewald said.