Spenga fitness chain entering Indianapolis market

Another specialty fitness studio is coming to Indianapolis: Spenga, a fast-growing Chicago-area-based chain of franchised fitness studios, plans to open in November in the Clay Terrace shopping center in Carmel.

Based in the Chicago suburb of Homer Glen, Spenga’s core offering is 60-minute, instructor-led workouts made up of stationary bicycling, strength training and yoga.

Spenga’s name, in fact, includes letters from its workout components: spinning, strength training and yoga.

“Spenga’s the first facility to put equal focus on all three components in one workout,” said company cofounder Roger McGreal.

The studios also offer a limited number of classes that focus on just one of the three activities.

Two couples from Carmel are the owners of Spenga’s Clay Terrace location: Staci and Ryan Hendrickson, and Cherie and Tim Palma. The two have the franchise rights to most of Hamilton County and portions of northern Marion County, including the Keystone area.

Staci Hendrickson said the four expect to open between three and five Spenga studios, though they haven’t selected locations. “Most likely, Fishers will be our next area.”

The Hendricksons also own the Indiana franchise for Perfect Wedding Guide, which produces several local wedding shows a year as well as a wedding-planning publication.

Cherie Palma has a background as a personal trainer and fitness instructor, and her husband is retired from the military.

McGreal, whose background is in personal training and fitness club ownership, partnered with several other fitness professionals to found Spenga in March 2015 in Mokena, Illinois, about 25 miles southwest of Chicago. That is Spenga’s only corporate-owned location.

To date, McGreal said, Spenga has sold franchise rights for another 200 locations nationwide, 15 of which are already open.

Spenga joins a growing number of chain specialty fitness studios that have either entered the Indianapolis market, expanded their presence here or announced their intent to do so since the beginning of last year. Others include The Barre Code, Class UFC Gym, Club Pilates, Cyclebar, Eat the Frog, Epic Interval Training, Farrell’s eXtreme Bodyshaping and Orangetheory Fitness.

In other retail news this week, we have a closing, some openings and a milestone to note:

— Got Sole? Boutique, a sneakers and streetwear shop at 6243 N. College. Ave., is liquidating its inventory and plans to close by the end of this month. Owner Mike Watson said he and his wife, who left corporate jobs to open Got Sole?, are closing the store because they need more of a work/life balance. “We’ve worked 12 hours a day, six days a week for 12 years,” he said. “It’s bittersweet because we’ve had a good run.” The store opened in November 2007.

— Normal Coffee is set to open Thursday at the Tube Factory, 1125 Cruft St., just east of Shelby Street in Garfield Park. The Tube Factory is an art and community center that also serves as the home base for Big Car Collaborative, a not-for-profit organization that uses the arts and culture as a means of community development. Normal Coffee will occupy less than 100 square feet within the larger facility. Big Car and local businessman Jeff Woodward will co-own Normal Coffee. The shop will be open six days a week: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. The establishment will primarily use coffee beans from Indianapolis-based Tinker Coffee, but it will also offer “occasional guest beans from out of town,” according to a press release from Big Car.

— Beauty Brands, which closed all four of its Indianapolis-area salon and spa superstores earlier this year as part of a company-wide downsizing, is reopening its Avon store on Friday. The store, at 9774 E. U.S. 36, is in the same spot where it operated previously. In January, the Kansas City-based retailer announced it would close 25 stores in nine states, leaving it with 22 stores in 10 states. At the time, the company had stores in Fishers, Carmel, Greenwood and Avon. Originally, the chain planned to keep its Avon store open, but that location closed, termporarily as it turns out, at the end of March.

— Noblesville-based Clancy’s Inc. opened its latest restaurant on Monday: Grindstone on the Monon at 17470 Wheeler Road in Westfield. IBJ first reported on this location in April. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, with indoor seating for 200 and patio seating for 55. The menu includes sandwiches, burgers, pasta, seafood, steaks and other items. Clancy’s other restaurants include Michaelangelo’s Italian Bistro and Grindstone Public House, both in Noblesville; Grindstone Charley’s in Indianapolis, Lafayette and Kokomo; and Clancy’s Hamburgers in Sidney, Ohio

— Blue Crab Juicy Seafood opened last week at 8340 Kelly Lane in Castleton, just west of Allisonville Road between East 82^nd Street and I-465. The restaurant also has locations in Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

— Indianapolis-based Indiana City Brewing Co. says its small-batch beers will be more accessible to customers now that the company has purchased its own canning equipment. Previously, the brewery hired a mobile canner—canning equipment inside a truck—to come on site a few times a month. This meant that only Indiana City’s larger batch brews were canned. Its small-batch beers were available only on tap or in growlers at its taproom at 24 Shelby St.

With its own canning equipment, Indiana City will increase its production overall by about 20 percent, said the brewery’s owner, Ray Kamstra. The brewery expects to produce close to 2,000 barrels of beer this year, he said.