The old movie theaters of the Suil Park shopping center, deactivated about a decade ago in Santa Maria da Feira, will be transformed into a gym with an investment of 1.2 million euros, the promoter of the work revealed on Tuesday.
In question are about 2,000 square meters in the underground floor of the shopping center that, in the Aveiro district, was inaugurated in the 2000s after an architectural reconversion that still maintains the original design of the old Suil factory this Tuesday — Sociedade União Industrial Dairy, in the construction style typical of the large business units of the 1950s.
With school groups as the main audience, the three movie theaters were economically unsustainable due to competition from large shopping centers and online viewing platforms, but now they will be adapted to sports activities by the Fitness Up group, which already has 30 gyms . in various regions of the country and this Saturday it arrives in the Algarve, opening its 31st establishment in Olhão.
We will occupy the cinemas, shops and common areas of the entire -1 floor, and at this time we are working on the project to ensure that we comply with all aspects related to the preservation of the original architecture of the building, which is a requirement of the City Council to the work”, the founder and CEO of the Fitness Up group, Hélder Marinho Ferreira, tells Lusa.
Even with these technical requirements, the contract should not last more than six months, so assuming that the works can start at the end of 2022, the businessman hopes to have the gym fully operational next summer. “It will not be a more complex job than what we are used to doing in other parts of the country,” he says.
With the aim of creating 40 jobs, the investment of 1.2 million euros will be supported “entirely with the group’s own funds” and Hélder Marinho Ferreira hopes to recover it “quickly, if there is not another pandemic” that forces the suspension of the activity sector, as happened with Covid-19.
The housing density of the area should contribute to this performance, since, installed in the parish of São João de Ver, next to Estrada Nacional 1, the gym will be located “in an urban environment with a large population” and surrounded by a lot of industry. and services.
It was a matter of opportunity and we took advantage of it, because there is a very advantageous microclimate there, with the shops and offices of the shopping center, a lot of housing and commerce around it, a lot of parking and a busy street in front. ”, emphasizes Hélder Marinho Ferreira.
In 2020 and 2021, the turnover of the Fitness Up brand registered “a drop of 50% due to Covid-19”, but the businessman points out that, even so, the group’s turnover “is between 11 and 13 million euros annual”, with expectations for 2022 being more positive.
“Despite the pandemic, we have managed to grow thanks to the opening of new gyms and we hope to close 2022 with a turnover of around 24 million”, he adds.
These accounts will influence the billing of five more gyms that the group intends to open until December: three in Porto, specifically in the industrial zone, near the Estádio do Bessa and next to the São João Hospital, and the rest in Carcavelos and in the center from Lisbon.
Source: Observadora
