AUSTINTOWN, Ohio – With the opening of a smoothie bar, a popular fitness center is once again flexing its muscles.
Froze Smoothie Bar opened last week in Wedgewood Plaza, at the intersection of Raccoon and New roads. While the smoothie bar is open to the public and has its own entrance from the parking lot, it also has a second entrance to the adjacent Body Shop Fitness Center. Members of the weightlifting center and gym can enter Froze without having to go outside.
Froze and Body Shop Fitness Center are owned by Mike Stanec. The fitness center is managed by his daughter, Kaitlin Stanec.
Smoothies are a “perfect complement” to any fitness routine, Mike Stanec said. The nutritious and refreshing treats are “a great way for our members and the public to fuel up,” he said.
In addition to smoothies, offerings include a berry banana acai bowl, turkey wrap, pancake tacos, peanut butter oat bowl, breakfast banana split and other items. Beverages include vanilla green tea, tropical twist, the Body Shop protein smoothie and more.
The shop is open daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Froze is just a small part of the building that houses Body Shop Fitness Center and five other smaller storefronts.
The long plaza formerly housed Wedgewood Lanes bowling alley and a movie theater that later became a series of nightclubs.
Stanec bought the entire building a couple years ago. He gutted the structure, turning the theater portion into a 9,000-square-foot basketball court dubbed Austintown Athletic Center, and the adjacent area into a 20,000-square-foot weight lifting and workout space, with two levels and a sauna room.
Stanec did not reveal the price of the project.
Austintown Athletic Center and Body Shop Fitness Center opened late last year. The fitness center formerly was located in a much smaller space in the other building of the same plaza.
Weightlifting machines and other exercise equipment dominate the new fitness center’s rooms.
The basement level, known as The Dungeon, uses black lights to make it a more fun space. Kaitlin came up with the idea to make it cater to a younger crowd, Stanec said.
Stanec has already leased four of the five smaller storefronts in his building. The first, Montessori Wonder Village, will open soon. The other storefronts are not yet developed.
Stanec is a 1995 Austintown Fitch High School graduate, who also earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in education management at Youngstown State University.
While at YSU, Stanec played football under coach Jim Tressel and was a linebacker on the squad that won the university’s fourth national championship in 1997.
Stanec worked as a teacher after graduating from YSU and then started a construction company. He bought Body Shop Fitness Center in 2017.
For information on a membership, call 330 799 6636.
Pictured at top: Mike Stanec, owner of Froze Smoothie Bar and Body Shop Fitness Center; his daughter, Kaitlin Stanec, Body Shop manager; and employee Tammy Pearch.
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