Blount County is getting a major new fitness option. CR Fitness Holdings, the nation’s largest franchisee of Crunch Fitness, confirmed plans this week to open a 35,000-square-foot location at Foothills Mall where Farmers Home Furniture and Goody’s once operated — a $5 million investment that will bring about 70 jobs to the area when the facility opens sometime next year.
The announcement marks Crunch’s first Blount County location and extends a cluster of Blue Ridge Fitness Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of CR Fitness Holdings – a Crunch Fitness franchise group, which launched Crunch Fountain City in Knoxville in October 2024 and has announced a second Knoxville location, Crunch Bearden, projected to open later this year. The Tampa, Florida-based company currently operates 96 Crunch locations across six states and is on track to reach 110 by the end of 2026.
Rich Merrill, senior vice president of marketing for CR Fitness Holdings, said the Maryville market stood out for a combination of demographic and community factors.
“You have a lot of colleges there, high schools there. It’s also a football town,” Merrill said. “It’s really important to us to maximize our existing presence with communities, and we found a great opportunity to continue to bring the Crunch experience to the people of Maryville.”
The facility will feature Crunch’s latest 3.0 club design, which Merrill described as a full-service model intended to consolidate amenities that competing gyms offer separately. The Maryville location will include a relax and recover area featuring infrared sauna and contrast therapy technology, an abs and glutes studio, Olympic lifting platforms, a hot studio for yoga and Pilates, a high-intensity interval training area with performance turf and a group fitness studio offering 50 to 60 weekly classes. Certified personal training will also be available, which Merrill identified as a key differentiator.
“Roughly half of members are looking for personal training in terms of getting involved and achieving their goals quicker,” he said. “Our certified personal training program is second to none.”
Memberships will start at $9.99 a month. Merrill said a corporate partnership program is also available for area businesses looking to offer employee gym access.
Foothills Mall Marketing Manager Dakota Makres said the fitness operator fits into a broader strategy for the property.
“As a high-traffic fitness operator, Crunch will bring new visitors to the property, support our existing retailers and restaurants, and provide residents with a convenient new fitness option,” Makres said.
Ahead of construction, CR Fitness Holdings is accepting early membership reservations through CrunchMaryville.com. The first 500 members to reserve will receive founding member pricing and perks when the facility opens. A pre-sale street team is expected to begin community outreach in the near future, with an estimated 10 to 15 positions hired locally before the full 70-job complement comes online closer to opening.
