Photo by Emily Featherston.
Iron Tribe
Iron Tribe Fitness founder and CEO Forrest Walden stands in front of the new Vestavia Hills location.
For Iron Tribe Fitness founder and CEO Forrest Walden, Vestavia Hills has always seemed like a good place for one of his fitness centers to be.
This month, that vision will become a reality as Iron Tribe opens its sixth Birmingham fitness facility.
“Vestavia’s always been a market that we wanted to serve,” Walden said, “but it’s pretty tight, at least commercial real estate wise.”
The new Iron Tribe location is situated on Highway 31, located in the former Soccer Locker spot next to the U-Haul rental facility.
Walden said when he heard the spot was coming available, he immediately began looking at the space. After seeing it, he said he “really felt like it makes sense for [Iron Tribe’s] footprint.”
The new facility will officially open on Saturday, Feb. 20. However, Walden said there will be a soft opening throughout the week prior.
Walden said each Iron Tribe location varies depending on the size of the space, but that the Vestavia location, which is around 3,300 square feet, will look similar to the stores located on Highway 280.
Though it may be similar to other Iron Tribe facilities in size and appearance, Walden said he thinks the new space will offer something that will attract potential members in the area. In addition, he said he thinks it will likely move some of Iron Tribe’s current members from other locations, such as the one in downtown Homewood.
“We typically have about 30 [members] that are already coming to our Homewood location that would prefer the Vestavia location,” Walden said.
“We also feel like we’ll be able to serve a lot of potential members who, right now, it’s not convenient to go to the [Highway] 150 store or drive to Homewood, so we really feel like it’s a new market for us.”
For the first 50 new members at the Vestavia location, there is even more to look forward to than the convenient location.
Vice President of Marketing Corbitt Chandler said that the founding members of the location will receive a variety of Iron Tribe merchandise, including a duffel bag, wristband, shaker cup, stainless-steel drinking cup and a “Founding Member” T-shirt.
In addition to the founding member merchandise, the first 10 new members will receive an exclusive starter pack of Stronger Faster Healthier (SFH) protein supplements.
The services offered at the Vestavia location will be the same as those offered throughout the rest of the Birmingham area Iron Tribe locations: group personal training that Walden said is fun, healthy, free from injury and sustaining for life.
“We have the best program to take all the guesswork out of getting into shape,” Walden said. “To do it safely, to do it effectively and in a way that’s not boring.”
Iron Tribe’s model focuses on group fitness, which Walden said he believes is more successful than one-on-one training, and is often more cost-effective as well.
Classes are available from 5:45 a.m. to 7 p.m., and classes generally last around 45 minutes.
Programs are available for all fitness levels, but facility membership is limited to 300 people, so those interested in new membership are encouraged to avoid hesitating.
For more information about Iron Tribe and the fitness programs the new Vestavia Hills location will offer, visit irontribefitness.com/
