Jeter teams up with 24 Hour Fitness
Yankees shortstop co-owner of new gym in New York City
As one New Yorker jogged on a treadmill on Tuesday morning to get his workout, it seemed someone standing next to him thought he could go a little faster.
A man in a gray suit pressed the button to increase the speed, but the jogger just laughed and ran faster.
It's hard to get mad when the man standing beside you is Derek Jeter.
"Nice," Jeter said, smiling when the runner picked up the pace. "I like it."
The Yankees shortstop spent an hour at the new gym near Madison Square Park at 225 Fifth Ave. to kick off the opening of the first of three 24 Hour Fitness Derek Jeter clubs that will come to New York City.
Rows of treadmills, bikes, stepping machines and ellipticals lined the 28,000-square-foot facility, complete with personal viewing screens on the cardio equipment.
"When you come to Manhattan, you kind of have to go big or go home," said Carl Liebert, CEO of 24 Hour Fitness. Two more clubs will open within the year -- one in SoHo and one in midtown at the Citicorp Building.
Jeter teamed up with 24 Hour Fitness as an owner of the clubs, alongside the company. The Yankee knew exactly what kind of atmosphere he wanted for the signature clubs.
"I wanted to have a classy and elegant-looking club," Jeter said. "Sort of bring some New York style to it."
So the shortstop wasn't content to sit back and simply lend his name to the facilities. He was personally involved in the design of the club, including picking out bathroom tiles. Liebert said there was an eight-hour meeting at one point of the planning process.
"It was like a contractor meeting. It was like he was building his own house," Liebert said. "He picked out all the tiles, all the amenities, the color scheme were all his."
"You think he's playing," Jeter interrupted. "But he's serious."
The Yankees shortstop said a 24-hour fitness club in New York City is a perfect fit, given the variety of different schedules New Yorkers juggle while trying to squeeze in a time to work out.
While his own schedule doesn't allow very much free time to work out at the clubs during baseball season, Jeter said he will make appearances at the new facilities to check up on things and make sure members are satisfied.
The fitness clubs were years in the making, and Jeter put plenty of time and thought into their planning and development. When he spoke about the finished product on Tuesday morning, the smile never left his face.
"It was fun," he said. "I give 24 Hour a lot of credit for letting me put in my ideas and actually listening to my ideas.
"It's been a long process. It's actually been a few years that we've been working on this, so now to see it all come together, it makes me feel pretty proud."
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