A former Family Fare grocery store in North Omaha is about to get a second life as a gym. VASA Fitness plans to open its third Omaha-area location on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7402 North 30th Street in the North Omaha/Florence area, taking over most of the former grocery store building.
The planned club is described as a 62,000-square-foot facility, according to Grow Omaha, though a separate construction industry listing describes the project differently, calling for the renovation of a 59,818-square-foot, one-story fitness and recreation center, per constructionjournal.com. Either way, it marks a major reuse of retail space on North 30th Street. The move fits a pattern for VASA, an Englewood, Colorado-based chain that Grow Omaha reports has approximately 60 locations across 11 states — though a separate report from freep.com puts the company's footprint at more than 70 locations in nine states.
The North Omaha club will be VASA's third in the metro area, joining existing gyms at 144th and West Center Road and at 909 Fort Crook Road North in Bellevue, the station's report notes. As of this week, the official VASA location page for the North Omaha address still carries a simple notice: “This location is not open yet.”
What the New Gym Will Offer
Even before opening, VASA's website for the North Omaha club is already promoting a first-month-free deal for would-be members. The listing also touts “studio classes, weights, cardio, and recovery amenities all under one roof,” along with more than 50 group fitness classes available at the location, according to the same account. VASA's STUDIO membership provides unlimited access to all VASA clubs and amenities, including STUDIO RED HIIT.
VASA is a fitness chain with a presence in Nebraska. The chain's first Nebraska club, a nearly 60,000-square-foot facility at 14445 West Center Road in Omaha, was announced in December 2023, with VASA hosting a public grand-opening celebration on January 13, 2024, featuring giveaways, gym tours and free workouts, according to the company's own announcement on vasafitness.com. At the time, the company said it hoped “to expand our presence in years to come” in the Omaha market.
A Playbook Built on Empty Big-Box Stores
The North Omaha conversion is part of a broader strategy that has defined VASA's growth nationally. Approximately 95 percent of the company's locations occupy existing retail buildings, and VASA has said it has transformed roughly 68 former retail and big-box spaces into gyms, according to shoppingcenterbusiness.com. The company evaluates factors like population density, demographics, income, accessibility, parking and competition when choosing where to plant its next flag, per that same report.
Comparable projects elsewhere illustrate the scale of those conversions. In Oswego, Illinois, VASA invested approximately $4 million to transform a 65,636-square-foot former Dominick's space that had sat vacant since 2013, while in Colorado Springs the company converted roughly 60,000 square feet of a former Kmart that closed in 2018, both according to the shopping-center industry report. VASA planned to open a club in a long-vacant Kroger at 23000 Michigan Avenue in Dearborn, Michigan, according to freep.com's coverage. The company also opened its first Idaho location in Boise on Oct. 17, a 56,000-square-foot club expected to create roughly 50 new jobs, as reported by idahobusinessreview.com.
More Nebraska Growth on the Horizon
VASA's Nebraska ambitions haven't stopped at Omaha. The company previously said it planned to open an additional club in Lincoln during the second half of 2024, according to athletechnews.com. That same report described VASA's Studio Flow infrared yoga offering. For now, North Omaha residents have a firm date circled: Nov. 7, when the old Family Fare storefront reopens its doors as the metro's newest fitness club.
