Signature Fitness set to move into former Dick's Sporting Goods space in Yorkville

YORKVILLE – A full-service health club is moving in to a former sporting goods store that closed its Yorkville location more than a year ago.

Lynn Dubajic, economic development consultant for Yorkville, said during a Tuesday, Feb. 4 meeting of Yorkville's Economic Development Committee, that Signature Fitness soon will be occupying the former Dick’s Sporting Goods space in the Kendall Marketplace shopping center near Route 34 and Cannonball Trail. She said the new health club business, which currently has a location in Naperville, will be taking up the entire 50,050 square feet of space inside the former store.

Dubajic said the arrangement is under contract after city officials have been working on it for months. She said the city doesn't receive a lot of sales tax revenue from a business like this, since they perform a service as opposed to selling products, but the city would benefit from real estate taxes from the building.

The new business would help generate foot traffic for other businesses in the shopping center, including a new Smoothie King location that was announced late last year, she added.

"It's sort of a ripple effect," Dubajic said.

Sheldon Botha, owner of Signature Fitness and a recent Yorkville resident, said one of the biggest reasons why he wanted to open a Yorkville location, is because the area is one of the fastest growing areas in the state from a residential and business standpoint and it would still be relatively close to Chicago. He said he anticipates the Yorkville location for the health club opening at the end of this summer or the beginning of fall because of necessary large-scale remodeling inside.

"Hopefully there's no hiccups in any of the construction stuff," Botha said. "But it's going to be a pretty big project."

Botha said the health club will have most equipment that other fitness centers have, including free weights and cardio machines. He said there also will be more options including tanning beds, a spa with massage services and indoor athletic training for sports including baseball and other sports that you would find at a recreation center.

Matthew Cairy, director of club development for Signature Fitness, and Lexi McDermid, general manager of the Naperville location, also added that the services will also include childcare, which is not commonly offered at other health club businesses.

"It's just a lot of variety and bang for your buck," Cairy said.

Botha also noted that the current and future Signature Fitness locations in Naperville and Yorkville, respectively, are not affiliated with similarly named health clubs in Florida and New Jersey.

"This is a separate entity," Botha said.

Botha said he anticipates the new location bringing in a total of 50 to 75 more jobs into the community. He said those jobs would include part-time and full-time positions.

"I'm just excited to bring something different to the community," Botha said.

The update comes after city officials previously announced that Dick's Sporting Goods was closing in January 2019. Dubajic had said the store's 10-year lease at the Kendall Marketplace retail center was ending, and the company decided not to renew their lease.

Dubajic said the space has been mostly vacant since then, only being used seasonally for a Spirit Halloween costume shop location in the meantime.

"I'm excited to see this become a reality," Dubajic said.