Ritesh Pandey (left) and Punnet Manaktala are the franchisees of the new Carytown StretchLab. (Photos courtesy StretchLab)
Carytown’s fitness scene is stretching its offerings with a new studio on West Cary Street.
The local franchisees for StretchLab, a gym chain that provides group and individual stretching services, will open Feb. 5 at 3324 W. Cary St.
It will be the third Richmond-area location and first Carytown location for franchisees Puneet Manaktala and Ritesh Pandey. The business partners also own locations at 11341 W. Broad St. in Short Pump and 15615 WC Commons Way in Midlothian.
The Short Pump location opened two-and-a-half years ago, while the Midlothian location opened over a year ago. Manaktala said he became interested in StretchLab several years ago after trying it himself following some back pain. He then brought on Pandey, a longtime friend and jiu jitsu and fitness enthusiast, to lead the franchises with him.
Manaktala and Pandey both work concurrently at banking giant TD as they run their three StretchLab locations.
Manaktala said that the pair have looked for a location in Carytown for over a year, and ultimately decided on the 1,500-square-foot spot for its distance from their other locations and its visibility along Cary Street.
“So we can cater and reach out to the folks who are in Richmond … who don’t want to travel to Short Pump or Midlothian. We really wanted to increase our reach,” he said.
Ellen Long with Taylor Long Properties represented StretchLab in its lease. Chris Corrada of One South Commercial represented the landlord.
StretchLab offers 25-minute sessions focused on major muscle groups and 50-minute full-body sessions. StretchLab’s stretch practitioners, also called “flexologists” by the company, must pass a 50- to 70-hour assisted stretching curriculum, per the company website.
The interior of the new Carytown StretchLab location spans roughly 1,500 square feet.
Manaktala noted that customers lie on a bench and are stretched primarily by-hand by instructors, with no machines being used.
“There’s no machines, you’re not strapping anybody on the bench, it’s basically hand-to-hand,” he said. “You don’t tweak a specific gauge on the machine … it’s highly customized to (each person.)”
The Carytown space will be filled with stretch benches, as well as a machine that gives customers a score based on their mobility using 3D scans, as is typical in StretchLab locations. The goal as customers do more sessions is to increase their mobility score, Manaktala said.
Classes are typically $80 per 50-minute and $40 per 25-minute session.
Manaktala said StretchLab customers are often athletes or those experiencing muscle pain, adding that the stretching studio also has chiropractors and physical therapists in its customer ranks.
“We have members who really need this for their well-being,” he said. “The way I see it, as we grow old, we start to lose our muscle mass … the more you keep (your muscles) stretched, the more they stay healthy.”
The franchisees plan to staff StretchLab Carytown with around 10 to 12 employees when it opens, Manaktala said. The studio currently has six on staff.
Manaktala and Pandey currently have around 35 employees total across their three StretchLab locations.
There are around 450 StretchLabs in the U.S. The company was founded in California in 2015.
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