Crunch Fitness is heading to Fort Walton Beach.

• Fit Fusion, the franchise group behind the new location, is planning to open a roughly 35,000-square-foot gym at 546 Mary Esther Cut Off NW with a target of opening this winter, according to Jessica St. Martin, presale operations manager for Crunch Fitness with Fit Fusion.

The building previously housed Liza Jackson Preparatory School and, before that, served as the original Walmart in the area. It sits next to Academy Sports + Outdoors.

St. Martin said the franchise group’s leadership has ties to the area and saw Fort Walton Beach as a community where Crunch could make an impact.

“It’s a high-value, low-cost gym,” St. Martin said. “Dropping into communities where we can make a large impact, they felt that’s what we could accomplish in Fort Walton Beach.”

Crunch Fitness, founded in a basement in New York City in 1989, now has roughly 500 locations nationwide. The brand operates under the motto “No judgments, no limits.” Memberships at the Fort Walton Beach location will start at $9.99 per month.

The new gym will feature the brand’s Crunch 3.0 design, which St. Martin described as an elevated look and feel with enhanced color schemes and branding. She said the location will also include some exciting new features that were introduced at a recent Crunch convention in San Antonio, and will be announced later.

Amenities that have been confirmed for the Fort Walton Beach location include group fitness classes, HIIT training, personal trainers, a Relax and Recovery room with tanning, red light therapy, hydro massage and cryotherapy, and Kids Crunch, the brand’s in-gym childcare program.

St. Martin said Kids Crunch is consistently one of the most sought-after features at Crunch locations.

• “Parents are looking for somewhere that has childcare associated with it,” she said. “If you just want to get a 30- to 45-minute workout, and you need kids care … it’s a huge bonus to be able to have your kid in the same building with you while you’re getting your workout.”

The gym will be open and staffed 24 hours a day.

Fit Fusion is in the process of hiring a general manager and plans to bring on 15 to 20 member service representatives, an assistant general manager, a personal training manager and up to 22 personal trainers. Community outreach specialists will also be hired during the pre-sale phase. A group fitness coordinator and more than 20 instructors will be brought on closer to opening.

Before the gym opens its doors, Fit Fusion will operate an enrollment center where prospective members can sign up at pre-sale rates.

“Before we even open the doors, we’re going to have an enrollment center that we’ll be operating out of,” St. Martin said. “People will be able to come to the enrollment center and sign up and get some really good deals before the gym even opens.”

St. Martin said the franchise group also plans to build relationships with local businesses through corporate membership discounts and a perk partner advertising program. Through the program, businesses can advertise inside the gym and on the Crunch Fitness app, and the membership includes five Peak Results memberships and access to quarterly membership appreciation events where partner businesses can set up booths and interact with the gym’s member base.

“Partnering with local businesses in the community is huge, and we’ll be looking to foster a lot of those relationships through the pre-sale phase,” she said.

St. Martin said what sets Crunch apart from other large gym chains goes beyond amenities.

“It is the community and the attitude that we foster from the very beginning when we’re hiring,” she said. “It’s no limits, no judgment, but it’s a fun atmosphere. We’re training our team top to bottom to be able to assist our membership base, but not only that, build those relationships.”

Those interested in job openings can visit fitfusionteam.com.