Chapter 83

I went down to the gym to work off some of the weight from the turkey leftovers. I also wanted some time to think. That idea was really out of place; I should wait until all my family was here so we could have a family chat. We needed to have an open discussion about the building. I just wanted all my thoughts together.

Would the building fit our needs, was it too big? Would it be in our price range? Susan indicated that the estate wanted to dump so they could get closure. But sometimes that was just talk before they hit you with sticker shock.

I knew that to rent a place for a gym on the Island would be expensive. I had heard the going rate was fifteen a square foot. Rent on a building that size would be $170,000 a month. Even just ten percent of that would be tough for start up. Maybe that was the standard that everyone had in their mind and that stopped anyone from looking. Not only that, there was terrible over-build in retail space on the Island. More than half were empty and in some places it was close to two thirds. With so much empty space why were rents staying so high? Government was good with propaganda but on the street the economy was still crap.

The trees had shielded the building from view for 50 years. That was a good thing if you were in the bootleg business fifty years ago. Unless you were an old timer, you didn't know anything was there. That may help us in the end.

The finances were another thing. I had savings that I had not touched. I had been thrifty the whole time I was in the Marines. I spent many a night on the floor or on cots in the barracks to save paying for officer's quarters out of my pocket. I had Jake invest it for me. We had invested well. He always chose the things that were stable, none of the risky things. Even with the down turn I had continued to make money. Some of the tech stocks were doubling every two years.

I had no house or vehicle payments, nothing but food and utilities. Since the girl's parents had decided that they would send their normal dorm fees to the girls I was spending hardly anything from my salary. I knew that Jenny was in the same position that I was. Since she had received the state car to use and had moved in with me the Corvette just wasn't being used. The girls preferred the diesel pickup. Other than the insurance on the Corvette she had almost no expenses. She wanted to trade off the Corvette for something more suitable for a family and to stop the five hundred a month insurance payment. We could come up with a good down payment on the building if we had to.

I thought it was best to let the girls work it out. Marcy could work up a business plan and Ching Lee could work up the presentation. QT banking would get to see it first. If they wanted to do the financing that would be best. The girls already had individual checking accounts there. When their parents agreed to send them the dorm money I insisted that they put it into checking accounts and then use a credit/debit card to build up their credit.

I had been working out for two hours. The girls must be home, I heard an army of footsteps from the kitchen. I showered and threw on one of the over-grown tees before I went up.

Not only were the girls back from sight seeing but both Jenny's and my parents were back along with Wendy and Patti. The four men were in the living room and had both wide screens looking at two different football games. I was almost tempted to go show them how to quarter the screens so they could watch eight different games at one time. I decided it wouldn't be right to torture them that way.

The girls were gathered around the table. I made the group complete. Ching Lee had transferred my sketch of the building to much larger poster board. She had two layouts, one of the interior and one view from the front. They were barn-storming ideas. She had penciled in positions for all the exercise equipment that we had plus several things that we didn't yet have. It also showed the mats and some of those bags that boxers used to train with and a boxing ring. I needed to ask about that one when the discussion wound down. Boxing had never been my thing. I had some of it in basic and quickly found out I wanted no more.

She has also extended the concrete pad, adding places for two 4 person hot tubs and an additional massage room. At the front of the building next to the offices and waiting room she has penciled in a new space labeled refreshment center. They were involved in lively discussions and explanations and for the most part general agreement.

They changed the sizes of the showers and locker room a little. They changed the pad for the hot tubs finally deciding on enough for three four person tubs. They then adjusted the size of the massage room to allow for the addition of a hand sink and a small storage cabinet.

The refreshment center was expanded as they wanted several refrigerated display cases to keep fresh fruit, bananas, oranges, apples, tangerines and freshly made salads. In another one they had sport and energy drinks, they also wanted a sink and stainless counter in there prepare specialty food, healthy food and various home-made teas.

Another change was the addition of six tables for clients to take a break at from their exercise routine and to be able to visit the refreshment center. The longer a customer stays the more likely they would spend more money. If they enjoyed the atmosphere, the more likely they would be enthusiastic to tell all their friends or bring their friends.

The other poster had the front of the building showing:

"JONES FITNESS AND DEFENSIVE TRAINING CENTER".

In smaller letters near the steps she had put, "Specializing in Female Cliental only." I looked at the drawings then stepped back to listen at the discussion.

Jeanna, the other three moms and myself were leaning against the counter listening to the active discussion.

Jeanna said, "I wish I could get this kind of discussion going in the bank meetings I have. You have to beg and plead for almost every comment. I love the interaction that is going on." I smiled and nodded.

The conversation had made full circle back to the boxing equipment and ring. That had my interest.

Marcy explained why it was penciled in, "Shelia Roush - the WWBA champ - and three of her fellow female boxers have bought a house further back on the water in the development and were looking for a gym that had a place to work out and train. They are next-door neighbors with Tracy and her daughter who were in our class. Tracy had called and asked Marcy if they could come and work out with them at our Monday night class."

Marcy looked at it as an opportunity to pick up 3 paying customers, plus we would have the room if we got the building. It was easy to see why Marcy was at the top of her business class. She looked at most things from a money standpoint. I could see Jeanna's big smile and head-nodding about Marcy's conversation.

"I will call everyone on the waiting list on Monday, after we find out the price to see if they would sign a letter of intent and also to tell them we have a layout of the gym if they want to see it," Marcy said. "That list has almost 150 women and that is just with the word of mouth from our ten satisfied customers."