Women's Croydon gym beats post New Year blues (From Croydon Guardian)

Women's Croydon gym beats post New Year blues

3:00pm Saturday 27th February 2010 in

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A fledgling gym is beating the annual post New Year’s resolution slump by boasting of “no men and no mirrors”.

Gym membership tends to nosedive when good intentions lose momentum as March draws near, but Gymophobics in Drommond Road is still taking on up to 40 new women per week.

Director Lynda Howarth, who launched the Croydon branch on January 4, said caring for customers was the key to members staying keen.

Staff send out postcards to absentee members telling them they miss them, and traditional concerns of image conscious gym-goers such as confidence shattering mirrors are banned.

Miss Howarth said: ““We tend to say if you hate normal gyms you will probably love us.

“The problem with other conventional gyms is they are very large and very impersonal.

“Unless you are a gym instructor how are you supposed to know what to do?

“Members are loving it here, and we’ve seen a surge in referrals from women getting their friends to join up as well.”

As well as the regular February low period, like other businesses the gym had to contend with snowy weather keeping down passing trade.

Miss Howarth said: “We had trouble in the snow, but we got our numbers so to speak.

“The amount of walk-pasts and general enquiries were a bit lower but it’s picked up since.”

More information about the gym is available at gymophobics.co.uk.