La Maison Celebrates 40 Years on the Main Line

I am typically writing about a new studio opening. But this week I am sharing all about a gym that is having a huge milestone anniversary this month. And it’s safe to say that this will be my one and only blog post that celebrates a fitness business having 40 years on the Main Line!

The year is 1983. Let’s paint the picture of pop culture at the time (not from my recollection- I was 3 years old- but from a quick google search). Ronald Regan is President. The Space Shuttle Challenger lands safely. Washington beats Miami in Super Bowl XVII. Michael Jackson’s Thriller is number 1 and the video aires on MTV for the first time. The most watched television show, MASH, aires its final episode. The first CD player is sold in America for $1,000. E.T. wins favorite motion picture at the People’s Choice Awards. Cats wins the best musical at the Tony Awards. Microsoft Word is first released. In Philly, the 76ers beat the Lakers for the first time in NBA finals history, winning the championship with Julius Erving and Moses Malone. The Phillies make it to the World Series but lose to the Baltimore Orioles. Ron Jaworski is QB for the Eagles but they fail to make it to the playoffs. Richard Sposato completes construction of his 38,000 square foot fitness and racquetball center in Wayne and it opens to the public.

Club La Maison (as it was called for 39 years, losing the “club” in the title just last year) was the first fitness center of its kind. There weren’t any places like it in the area, let alone the country! It was more of a lifestyle center combining fitness with sport and leisure, community with recreation, and social gathering with full service pampering and “self care”, as we like to call it today. La Maison was the place to be in 1983. Anyone who was anyone on the Main Line joined this new, state of the art, one-of-a-kind fitness center. In 1983, the three story building on the corner of Sugartown Road and Morris Road was home to twelve racquetball courts, an indoor swimming pool, an aerobic studio, two spas, a cafe, a floor of Nautilus gym equipment, an indoor track, and separate men and women’s fitness areas. Back in 1983, La Maison was the template for future full service health clubs.

For forty years, La Maison has adjusted to the times. And the same was true back in the beginning. The club would eventually remove each one of its racquetball courts, one by one, when racquetball lost its luster. Those spots were replaced by activities that were the next best thing. Someone described La Maison as a club that “brought the trends”. High impact aerobics and step aerobics eventually moved out of the carpeted basement of the gym to the main floor, where people would line up to get into a class, or just to get a glimpse of the legendary aerobics classes at Club La Maison, which you could view from the third level. Nautilus equipment was joined by Body Masters and Ergometers. StairMaster machines, spinning bikes and even Pilates reformers were brought into the club. La Maison was always looking to give its members the next fitness trend, sometimes even a little too early. (The reformers didn’t do well and were short lived at the club, but I think they would kill it now!).

*How amazing is this ad for the club from 1983! Club La Maison was the first of its kind to offer all of this in one place. They even had babysitting!*

So the key to success and longevity in the health and wellness space is the ability to adapt to the times, be on top of industry advances and trends, and listen to your members. Which brings me to the La Maison community. La Maison is not your typical gym environment and that’s because of the people. This gym just feels different. As a member myself, I describe the environment as friendly, congenial, familial, jovial, supportive and helpful. Everyone knows each other, staff and members alike. There is no gym intimidation here. I promise you! You can’t help but notice a lot of elderly members at the club. And that’s because most of them have been at La Maison since the beginning. Forty years of membership! That speaks for itself!

Throughout the years, La Maison has had its fair share of celebrity members. Julius Erving was a member in the 80’s and attended the grand opening party in ‘83. The Villanova basketball team and coach, Rollie Massimino, worked out there. In fact, the night after the team won the championship in 1985, Coach Massimino was found decompressing in the sauna room. Lenny Dykstra, Darren Daulton, Greg Gross, Alan Ameche and Bill Lyon were also members at one time. Most recently, celebrities like Ryan Reynolds and Harry Styles have been seen exercising at La Maison when they were in town.

Because La Maison was the first place to bring fitness to an entire community, La Maison has greatly impacted the health and wellness of many in our area. La Maison was the first gym many Main Liners ever stepped foot in and still belong today. Every evening around 5:30 pm, a large group would exit the train from the nearby Strafford station and collectively make their way down the road to the gym. La Maison is a family affair and has always been in the Sposato family. Richard Sposato owned La Maison Apartments when he decided to use the land in front of them to build this full service wellness center. After Richard Sposato suddenly passed in 1994, the club was left to his three children Richard, Vincent and Stephanie, who own the club today.

So what is the club like today? I can personally tell you because I am there every Monday through Friday, and I use many of the services that the club offers. Today, there are over 2,200 members. There are about 100 employees, including 8 personal trainers. Over 75 different classes are offered every week at La Maison. There is a large group fitness room, a spinning room, a yoga studio and a barre studio. There is a large turf area, a cardio equipment area, and a recovery space on the first floor. Bounce Back Physical Therapy is on the first floor, as well as C4 Training, where student athletes train every day. The lower level of the club has all of the pin loaded and plate loaded machines, as well as free weights. The indoor track and the indoor pool are also on the lower level. The men and women’s locker rooms are located on the lower level and each has showers, a sauna and a whirl pool. La Maison also recently added outside nutrition services through a registered dietician and physician services through PVI Institute. Just like in 1983, today, La Maison is truly a one stop shop for all things health and wellness.

Last night, we celebrated 40 years of La Maison on the Main Line. In October 1983, the wildly successful Grand Opening event “validated” that La Maison was about to be something big. And 40 years later, at the Anniversary party, that validation of something extraordinary still remains.

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