Canada-based fitness chain set to enter Indianapolis

Canada-based fitness chain 30 Minute Hit plans to open its first Indiana gym early next year at 8810 Southeastern Ave. in Wanamaker on Indianapolis’ southeast side.

The fitness center will be in a 2,175-square-foot space formerly occupied by an Italian restaurant called Romanza of the Vine.

30 Minute Hit is a women-only gym that offers 30-minute high-intensity workouts based on kickboxing. The local facility will also offer childcare.

Local franchisees are Matt McDermitt and his fiancée, Tami Vance. Vance is a clinician with the Indiana Department of Child Services. McDermitt works as a program director for the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs and previously worked for the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office in Richmond, where his job included teaching fighting techniques to deputies. McDermitt is also an Army veteran.

The couple lives in Franklin Township, and the rapid housing growth in that part of the city helped convince them that Wanamaker would be a good location for their first 30 Minute Hit, McDermitt said.

Down the road, the couple plans to open additional locations, perhaps on the south or northwest sides of town. “We see multiple places within the city that could definitely support this,” McDermitt said.

30 Minute Hit was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2004 by the husband-and-wife team of Deanna and Jackson Loychuck. The company’s website lists 69 fitness centers: 59 in Canada and 10 in the U.S., with one each in Arizona, California, Colorado and Tennessee; and three each in Texas and Washington state. The website also lists 18 locations as coming soon: six in Canada, eight in the U.S., including in Indianapolis, one in Northern Ireland and three in Saudi Arabia.

In other news this week:

— Burn by Rocky Patel, the long-awaited upscale cigar lounge, has finally opened at Circle Centre mall.

The establishment, which had its grand opening on Wednesday, occupies a 5,500-square-foot space at the southwest corner of Meridian and Maryland streets, in part of what was previously a Nordstrom department store.

Indianapolis is the fifth city for Burn by Rocky Patel, which started in 2010 in Naples, Florida. The chain also has locations in Atlanta, Oklahoma City and Pittsburgh.

Burn by Rocky Patel announced its plans for the Indianapolis location in late 2016.

— A first-floor ramen shop and second-floor coffee/dessert place will open by the end of the month at 36 E. Washington St. The ramen restaurant, Wei Ramen, will open on Monday. City Bytes Coffee, which will offer coffee, desserts and a cyber café, will open a week later, said Paolo Mendez, the general manager for both establishments. IBJ first reported on plans for the restaurants in August.

The owner of both businesses is Joe Zou, who also owns the Viet Hua Food Market grocery stores in Castleton and on Indianapolis’ south side, as well as three Asian restaurants in Louisville and one in Cincinnati.

— Gina’s Grill, which opened last year in Moose Lodge 17 at 7055 E. 16^th St., has announced it will close its doors at the end of the year.

“We went into this venture fully aware of how difficult the restaurant business is, and while we are sad to see it end we are grateful that we gave it our best effort,” the restaurant announced on its Facebook page Sunday. Gina’s Grill owner Gina Godwin opened her restaurant after the Moose Lodge’s previous in-house restaurant, Tie Dye Grill, closed in July 2018. Godwin had been the general manager at Tie Dye.

— Rise ‘n Roll Donuts opens Friday at Fishers District, 9705 Fishers District Drive, Suite 740.

Based in Middlebury, Rise ‘n Roll has 10 Indiana locations—nine in the northern part of the state and one in Greenwood. The company also plans to open at the River House in Broad Ripple, 6311 Westfield Blvd.

— The women’s retailer Torrid has opened in a 3,025-square-foot space at Indiana Premium Outlets in Edinburgh. Torrid sells clothing, accessories, shoes and activewear in sizes 10 to 30.

— Cajun/Creole seafood restaurant The Boiling will reopen Sunday at its new location, 14 E. Washington St. The space formerly housed CharBlue Steak & Seafood, which closed June 29. The Boiling had operated in the basement of the nearby King Cole building, but vacated the space along with other tenants this fall to make way for a Motto brand hotel.