Pilates studio opens strength training fitness space next door – Richmond BizSense

The owner of a local fitness studio is ramping up its offerings with a new space dedicated to weightlifting.

Niche Pilates Studio plans to open a companion strength training studio at 1431 W. Main St. in Fan, next to its existing space at 1435 W. Main St.

The new 2,700-square-foot space, also called Niche Pilates Studio, will offer weightlifting, cardio and strength training for people looking to tone their muscles in a more intimate setting than a traditional gym.

Niche founder and owner Jaclyn Forrester said she hopes to open the doors to her strength training studio this summer after renting the space last month.

A native of the Richmond area, Forrester has been in the fitness industry since 2007 after earning a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Radford University, working as a yoga instructor, Pilates instructor, and personal trainer.

Forrester opened Niche Pilates in a 300-square-foot space downtown in 2017 and moved to a larger space a few years later. It then expanded again in 2024 to its current 3,500-square-foot location on Main Street.

The Pilates studio has space for up to 16 participants at a time with equipment and offers a combination of mat Pilates, Pilates with Reformer machines, and Tower Pilates with machines classes. The studio offers in-person and online instructor training, as well as private and semi-private sessions.

Forester said he had wanted to open a companion strength training studio for several years due to his interest in strength training, and was finally able to do so this year after the space next door opened.

“My roots are in exercise science, so personal training and group class training from a strength standpoint is where I come from,” she said.

“Having everything in one space is very important to me,” she added. “It’s something I wanted to do from the beginning, but it takes time to grow.”

The strength studio will have a dedicated strength studio space, a filming area for creating YouTube workout tutorials, and an office area.

Forrester said strength training participants will enter through the same entrance as the Pilates studio and walk across an existing courtyard between the two buildings.

The new studio will be equipped with cable machines, TRX bands, cardio equipment, benches and dumbbells. We offer group classes and personal training. The studio will also offer packages where customers can come and work out on some of the machines themselves, using niche workout videos or working independently on their own routines, similar to how Pilates studios operate.

“There will be dedicated times where people can just come and sign up to take advantage of the strength training portion of the gym or the cardio portion of the gym,” she said. “Once people register, we make sure there’s enough space there.”

Prices for strength classes are the same as Niche’s Pilates classes. Group classes start at $22 per person or $42 for two, while private sessions start at $100 per class, with options including a private 4-class pack for $360. Membership fees range from $80 to $336 per month, depending on the number of classes a customer selects. Our studio operates on a credit system.

Forrester said there are plenty of gym options in the Richmond area, but he believes Niche can offer a more advanced, smaller studio-based strength training experience.

“People are used to coming to the studio, and people who are used to that like that kind of environment. It’s polished, it’s clean, and at the end of the workout it’s a lavender towel,” she said with a laugh. “It’s a community you’re already used to.”

Niche Pilates Studio has 24 part-time and full-time employees, Forrester said. She plans to bring in two or three instructors who specialize in strength training to teach in an adjacent space.

Print article