Word on the Street: New owners take over Centerpoint Athletic Club
Centerpoint Athletic Club, a fixture in central Fresno for 35 years, has new owners now and is part of the locally owned family of Sierra Sports Clubs.
Centerpoint owner Mark Geis, who bought the club about 11 years ago, recently sold the business to Robert and Juli Mitchell, who own four other facilities: Sierra Sport and Racquet Club in northwest Fresno, Sierra Athletic Club on Blackstone Avenue near Shaw Avenue, Shapemakers in northeast Fresno and Sunnyside Fitness and Tennis in southeast Fresno.
Centerpoint, which is located on Maroa Avenue south of Shields Avenue, will keep its old name, Geis said. He has relinquished ownership of Centerpoint, but is staying on with Sierra Sports Clubs as the company’s director of corporate wellness. In that role, he is working with local businesses to develop fitness programs for employees under the Affordable Care Act. Tina Naffziger has been named as the Centerpoint Athletic Club manager.
Centerpoint provides fitness classes, courts for racquetball, handball and basketball, a heated year-round swimming pool, a weight room, private saunas and a social lounge with refreshments including beer and wine.
Geis, who was Centerpoint’s general manager before he bought the club in 2003, described the Centerpoint sale to Sierra Athletic Clubs as “a great thing for our (Centerpoint) members because this gives them access to five different clubs” with a membership upgrade. He added that each of the facilities offers patrons something a little different from the others.
The sale was announced in a Jan. 15 letter to to Centerpoint members.
Lou Quint of Health Clubs Management, a company that manages fitness facilities, praised the Mitchells for their commitment to a local focus for Centerpoint and their other Fresno clubs.
“From the very beginning the directive was to maintain all employees,” Quint said in a written statement. “The commitment and level of honest interest in the staff is amazing. It shows when I’m working with employees that have been at many of the locations for over 17 years when they started working with the Mitchells.”
More details are available at www.centerpointac.com or by calling the club at (559) 225-3250.
Fresno furniture outlet closing
The Fashion Furniture Outlet Showroom and America’s Mattress location that has operated out of a storefront on Blackstone Avenue in Fresno for 11 years is closing.
The lease is up on the building at 6511 N. Blackstone Ave., north of Sierra Avenue, so it makes sense to move everything to the company’s main location on West El Paso Avenue, near River Park, a company spokesman said.
The outlet store held a four-day private preferred customer sale last weekend and began a public sale on Thursday to sell its remaining inventory.
Fashion Furniture is a large, locally owned furniture store that opened in 1960. The company will continue to operate its main showroom.
This story was originally published January 25, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Word on the Street: New owners take over Centerpoint Athletic Club."