South-side fitness venture set to open March 14

A trio with backgrounds in the health care industry is bringing a location of a Franklin, Tennessee-based fitness franchise this month to the Queen City.

D1 Training, a performance-based strength and conditioning concept, is set to hold a grand opening for its first Springfield location on March 14 at 313 E. Battlefield Road, Ste. C, said local franchisee Kate Martinez. The group fitness facility occupies around 5,700 square feet in the Battlefield Plaza shopping center, said Martinez, who co-owns the Springfield franchise, along with her husband, Jason, and their friend, Anthony Morgan.

“It’s the place for the athlete, and we define anyone with a fitness goal as an athlete,” Martinez said, noting each fitness program is based on five athletic-based tenets: warm-up, performance, strength program, core and conditioning, and cooldown. “So, we have training for all the way from age 7 up through adult.”

Outside of its standard group workouts, D1 Training offers group, semi-private and one-on-one training with coaches. Martinez said she’s among five coaches set to teach at the facility beginning March 14, noting the franchisees signed a 10-year lease for undisclosed terms with Jared Commercial & Management LLC.

D1 Training has over 150 facilities open across the country with 100 more in development, according to a news release. The Springfield location will be the third D1 to open in Missouri, following ones in Ballwin and O’Fallon, according to the company’s website. The website also lists a total estimated initial investment ranging from $480,557 to $933,432, which includes a $59,500 franchise fee. While Martinez declined to disclose startup costs for the Springfield location, she said they are on the lower end of that range.

“We offer classes six days a week, so Monday through Saturday, and there’s at least one option for each age group, each of those days,” she said, adding memberships for unlimited classes are $40 a week through March 14 and increase to $45 per week after Saturday.

Punch card options also are available for those seeking to pay per class, with prices ranging $25-$30.

“We want people to get in here and get a good quality workout, but we’re really looking for the quality of movement, not just moving for the sake of moving,” she said. “So, making sure kids and adults, those movements are good form and safe. Those are high priority to us.”

Martinez said she and her husband met Morgan over a decade ago when all three were working in various clinics and hospitals in Memphis, Tennessee. The Martinezes, who are both certified chiropractors through the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians, also own NXT Level Chiropractic LLC. She said the couple began the business as a mobile venture in Memphis and opened a brick-and-mortar clinic upon moving to Springfield in 2015. The clinic is at 4730 S. National Ave., Ste. B7.

“Then Anthony had been training at (D1) in Arkansas and just got to talking to them about franchise opportunities and found out that Springfield territory was available and knew we were here,” she said. “And so, he just reached out and said, ‘You guys interested in doing this with me?’”

The trio then visited some D1 coaching seminars and a franchisee summit before moving forward with the investment.

As for future locations in Springfield, the franchisees are taking a wait-and-see approach.

“Based on growth and how things go, we’re always open to options,” Martinez said.