Mayor Julie Smith welcomed Spires to Tifton during the ribbon cutting.

TIFTON — Destiny Fitness of Tifton held a ribbon cutting and grand opening on Oct. 22.

The gym, located at 620 Love Ave. St. 2, is the 12th Destiny Fitness location to open.

President Brad Squires was at the event to cut the ribbon.

He said when the company acquired the location, it had been vacant for 10 to 12 years and required renovation.

Now the location offers a large variety of Precor, Nautilus, Body Master, Hammer Strength Matrix and Life Fitness machines, free weights and seven benches, a ladies only area, tanning and classes.

“We offer a little bit of everything,” Squires said. “I love variety.”

He said that every body is different, so the gym offers a variety of equipment so everyone can find what works for them.

When Squires was first hired by Destiny Fitness in January 2018, he wanted to focus on rebranding and lowering the cost for customers.

“We were at $32 a month, which is most gyms around here,” he said. “We went to $19.95. I pulled out a third of the profit because this is middle Georgia. I want to make it affordable for everyone.”

Squires said there are four things that Destiny prides itself on: affordability, cleanliness, gregarious employees and replacing non-working equipment within 24 hours.

“Those four things are what I incorporated to turn this around,” he said. “Our memberships, since I’ve done that, have more than doubled since January.”

Squires also highlighted the gym’s security and large parking lot.

“I love the parking and I love how (the building) provides a comfortable, refreshing type of workout without feeling claustrophobic,” he said. He said that the club has strict entrance policies and there are monitored and recorded security cameras all over the public spaces in the gym.

He said that Tifton was chosen as a new location because it is a great area.

“This is a fantastic little town that could absolutely have a Destiny Fitness in it,” he said. He also said that the company owner, Gerald Pryor, loved Tifton when he had a Video Warehouse in the area and said the company did well here. Squires said that they wanted to have a presence here.

The Tifton location is the newest Destiny Fitness, and Squires said the Tifton location is the nicest one.

“If you see what this club looks like, this is what I imagine all our clubs going for,” he said. “We want to prove ourselves, that our gyms offer a completely different experience.”