Fitness club moving into former Reed's building
FitQuest athletic club is moving into the former Reed's sporting goods building just off Highway 371 in Baxter.
Speculation that a large chain athletic club was interested in the building has been circulating in the lakes area. Joan Peterson, FitQuest owner, said that was a reason she decided to make the move now before someone else did.
"Why not jump in and do it myself," she said.
Peterson said the move will allow the club to increase hours, add services and equipment. The club will now have a full size basketball and volleyball court, new lockers and saunas, additional treadmills and a staffed day care. There will be three racquetball courts.
"I think it will appeal to a greater clientele," Peterson said. The FitQuest club has traditionally appealed to a strong male customer base. But Peterson said since she purchased the club several years ago, she's worked to add to that base by diversifying. The club offerings include fitness classes with yoga, step classes, kick boxing classes and Latin dancing among others. Peterson would like to add Pilates and has been looking for an instructor.
FitQuest plans to be open 17 hours a day, add to its equipment of treadmills, bikes and ellipticals and add a machine that is a combination elliptical/stair climber.
Kuepers Inc. is working on the building. Peterson said the large space where the sporting goods store was set up will be divided with FitQuest moving into one part and the other available for lease. The front of the building is already divided into a restaurant (formerly Dave's Pizza), a gift shop and a coffee shop. Peterson said she is looking for tenants for those spaces and has been talking with a potential restaurant operation.
For other spaces, Peterson said she'd love to have a health-related business. The target time for the move is in early September.
Rockwoods Grill restaurant and Backwater Bar at the Lodge at Brainerd Lakes is closed. The lodge said the closure is temporary.
Krumbles bakery in the Baxter Village is closed. Krumbles opened in 2005.
What could anticipated airline cutbacks mean for the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport? Steve Sievek, airport manager, said at the moment there is no clue as to what will happen at the regional airports. Added to the puzzle is the proposed Northwest merger with Delta.
"What's going to happen to the regionals if anything is a mystery and it's not looking all that rosy with the fuel costs," Sievek said, adding some airlines are leaving regional airports even if it means giving up Department of Transportation subsidies.
"There are a lot of unknowns right now," Sievek said.
And with the merger talks, Sievek said he doesn't imagine anything will be said that could be considered negative to individual communities. Sievek said he doesn't imagine anything will happen until the fall.
The airport has four departures per day now and Sievek expects that will drop to two departures for the winter as it did last season.
Jerry and Phyllis Taylor recently announced their two daughters, Lisa Kaneski and Kathy Martin, are now the owners of the Pine River Dairy Queen and the Nisswa Dairy Queen. The Taylors transferred the ownership to their daughters who are Pine River-Backus High School graduates. St. Cloud State University graduates, both Kaneski and Martin put in high school and college years learning about the Dairy Queen business.
The Taylors purchased the Pine River Dairy queen in 1973 from Don and Carol Johnson when it was a seasonal walk-in. They remodeled the building in 1975, creating seating for 48 and expanded again in 1995. And the Taylors purchased the Nisswa Dairy Queen in 1983.
Kaneski, Pequot Lakes, previously worked with Austin-based Hormel Foods Corp., working in Atlanta; Madison, Wis.; Salt Lake City; and Minneapolis. Martin, Pequot Lakes, was employed by Edina-based International Dairy Queen supervising Dairy Queen openings. She became manager of the Pine River Dairy Queen in 2002.
RENEE RICHARDSON, senior reporter, may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
| 
