Work out options grow with addition of Planet Fitness in downtown MKE

Tom Daykin reports that Planet Fitness will open in the former Borders bookstore adjacent to the Grand Ave. and add another work out option in downtown Milwaukee.

The low-price, no-frills training centers already operate in Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh, Manitowoc and Sheboygan. The chain is now expanding into southeastern Wisconsin, with a club that opened recently at 3333 S. 27th St., and another opening Nov. 1 in Franklin, at 6529 S. 27th St., in a former Jewel-Osco supermarket.

As Daykin notes in his Land and Space blog, the Planet Fitness expansion creates something of a mini-glut of fitness centers in a small area near the Milwaukee River.

The Downtown YMCA, the Wisconsin Athletic Club and the recently opened Gold's Gym sit within a few blocks of each other.

Planet Fitness is a different option: lower price (about $20 a month for a membership) with fewer amenities and classes, but the convenience of 24-hour availability. It has received mixed reviews on its set up and customer service.

A quick price comparison shows a single membership at Gold's Gym ranging from $49 to $64, per month, and a family membership at $102. The enrollment fee is $79 to $89.

A membership at the YMCA, in the Grand Ave., is $52 for an individual and $64 for a family.

The Wisconsin Athletic Club charges $65 a month for a single, with a corporate discounte, and $97.50 for a family.

Child care offerings, enrollment fees and charges for classes add variables to the actual price an individual would pay.