HealthQuest is pumped up about business overhaul

Napa fitness center HealthQuest is undergoing a major overhaul. After 20 years in the fitness business, the independently-owned Napa gym is adding 13,000 square feet to the center’s 20,000 square feet and is getting a major facelift. 

Owner Tony Giovannoni said HealthQuest is adding a new women’s locker room and three fitness classrooms. 

“The remodel gives us more flexibility and allows us to offer more classes,” Giovannoni said.

Over the past 20 years. the health club market has changed, Giovannoni said. Spin and yoga, now the cornerstones of fitness, were not as popular 20 years ago. 

The competition has also changed, most notably with the addition of the Queen of the Valley’s Synergy Medical Fitness Center, which opened in 2006. 

“Synergy is the big kid on the block with unlimited funding, but we have handled it just fine,” Giovannoni said.

For an independently-owned business the addition has been challenging, but Giovannoni doesn’t like to concern himself with the competition. He said he has had other things to worry about, like receiving funding in a down economy.

Giovannoni decided to remodel five years ago. Then the market crashed and financing became more difficult to come by. Giovannoni and his builders, Bruce Tucker Construction of Napa, were able to take the lag time and use it to plan the remodel.

“The process has been frustrating because it took longer than expected, but that gave us more time to go over the details,” Giovannoni said.  “There were months where we were waiting and we pored over the plans and there were little details that might have been overlooked. All that time gave us enough time to cover all of our bases and get into the details.” 

Mechanics Bank came through with the funding and the HealthQuest crew began moving forward. Giovannoni is adding dedicated rooms for spin classes and yoga/mind body classes, and one big main studio for a variety of classes. 

“This lets the room specialize and people don’t have to drag the bikes out of the yoga room,” he said. 

He has given the entire gym a facelift with new paint, new windows in important areas, a dedicated entrance for swim classes, a facelift the men’s locker room, a larger weight room and new cardio equipment. HealthQuest will also add 40 new spaces in the parking lot. 

The addition will be completed in June and the inside remodel is expected to take another four months. Giovannoni expects everything to be completed on time and has remained open during the remodel.

When asked how he has kept his business open during major construction, he said there are some challenges to stay open, but the members have been flexible. 

“My members have been really supportive and have told me how great everything looks and I only see destruction,” Giovannoni said. “I’ve been pleasantly surprised by that.”

For now it’s a seven-day-a-week job for him as he spends most of his time overseeing the construction. 

“My father stressed to me that if you have one chance to do it, just do it right,” Giovannoni said.

As published in the Napa Register