Retro Fitness

I was a member of retro fitness for a year, during that time I had Samantha as a personal trainer, she’s since been promoted (yay) which means she’s no longer training which is a bummer. The training was kind of pricey but I’d just had a baby and wanted some accountability and motivation, my pre-​pregnancy jeans are now big for me, mission accomplished! CK is pretty busy but if you can get a training session in with him you’re in for a treat.
However, this is not an ideal place to lift weights if you can’t get in before or after peak hours. People tend to hog the squat racks, of course you can ask to rotate in but that’s kind of a pain. They are also always trying to sell those dang shakes!
Bathrooms are always freshly cleaned, they have a movie room which I thought was kind of neat and they just added massages. Staff is very welcoming and helpful.

I have been a member for 3 years, and it is a constant battle to have the temperature appropriate for working out. The cardio area has one fan and no air circulation. The new manager locks the door to the office when he leaves, and ups the temperature so all the evening guests have no air in the cardio area. Tonight the doors were propped open to let cool air in. Also, the tvs on half of the ellipticals have been broken for over a year now, and still waiting for them to be fixed. Management is horrible. The workers are wonderful, helpful, and kind, although there hands are tied by a miserable manager.

This is probably the crappiest gym I have been to around the world. I give it two stars due to the fact that all the cardio equipment I used worked and they had a good variety. However there was no space allocated for stretching nor was there a free studio to use if you wanted to do your own thing. The front desk person this am, Bethany, was the rudest person and just full of attitude — seriously I don’t care if you would «lose your job» (I am sure McDonalds would hire you) but you are the front line customer service person! The cardio kickbox class I took last night was so unsafe in terms of not giving clear instructions for moves (I am an instructor) and the instructor stated he had a meeting so class had to end 20 mins early (uh, isn’t that when you get a sub!?). As a trainer he looked frail and totally out of shape. Way too many employees walking around doing nothing and a fairly sad set of trainers from what I could tell. I would rather die than join this gym but it’s serviceable for a day use if I’m in the area.

Overcrowded, equipment not maintained, and absolutely no facility management. Machines or parts of machines need to be replaced. The facility is old enough that it’s time to re-​do the floors in the dressing rooms and bathrooms, because the flooring product is old and discolored and no matter how much it is cleaned, it looks filthy. Whoever is in charge can’t be bothered to purchase new spindles for the 2-​roll toilet paper dispensers, so the rolls just sit right on top of one another (and the absolute cheapest TP available, by the way). I see so few men spraying and wiping down benches and machines that I bring my own spray – I am convinced there is nothing in spray bottles next to paper towel dispensers but water. After all the years in business, no one on the staff can bring themselves to create a cheat sheet to look at so when they are asked, «How many calories in that specialty shake?» or «How many carbs?” – astonishingly, they say, «Give me a few minutes and let me figure that out.» No one can WRITE IT DOWN? All of these things added together are indicative of absentee, uncaring management. Complain, but expect nothing. And yes – the 60-​day notice of cancellation is outrageous. Don’t know why I signed up the second time – almost instantly regretted it.

Good facility… HORRIBLE billing company (and the staff won’t help). My CC expired and I started receiving voice mails at home every hour (literally) to call them back. NOT COOL!

Rude staff and horribly managed. I am a member of a local wilmington gym looking at other options and I went to retro to use a 1 day trial pass. I was greeted by a rude general manager who said without a local ID I can not use the guest pass which says nothing about a local ID on it. I’m looking to switch gyms after being at one in wilmington for 5 years and retro just lost any chance of me being a customer or recommending anyone.

Love Retro Concord! Staff is amazingly sweet and helpful. They’re also very knowledgable and able to recommend products tailored to your needs when asked. Any type of machine you could want and plenty of them — I’ve never had a problem getting a machine I wanted at the time I wanted it. Equipment is always clean and functional. Lockers in the locker room are always available. Theater room is a nice touch. The gym also offers tanning and classes — full service! Fantastic and reasonable personal training program as well.

Terrible, terrible gym.
I was a member for around 2 years. The machines are always crowded. It is almost impossible to get an open locker. It smells like they only clean the bathroom like once a year. Frequently the urinals were broken /​clogged.
For some crazy reason this gym moves the equipment around like once a month, so by the time you figure out where to go for a certain exercise, they move it again. The manager is also very disrespectful. I would never use Retro fitness again in my life.
Retro also has a super shady tactic of not letting you cancel your membership until 60 days after you mail them a cancellation letter. They force you to mail a letter cause they know it is a pain in the rear.

I’ve been a member of Retro Fitness for about six months now. I initially joined because I was training for a marathon and needed a place to run on a treadmill when the weather was unpleasant. Through Retro Fitness, I went from a gym-​free existence to being a bit of an gymaholic.
So, here’s the lowdown:
1. Price — Retro’s $ 19.99 per month is one of the best deals around. You can also add unlimited tanning for an additional $ 9.99 per month. I’m not into skin cancer, so I can’t say any more about the tanning.
2. Staff — Everyone’s really nice, friendly, and helpful. At the juice bar/​counter, it sometimes seems like they get a bit overwhelmed. Seems like the system they use to ring people up is a bit cumbersome — it takes them a while to make what should be a simple transaction (buying a shake, etc.). They’re always so nice about it that it doesn’t bother me much. I haven’t worked with any of the trainers, so I can’t vouch for them one way or another, but if I do, I will update.
3. Equipment — As I mentioned earlier, I basically joined to run on the treadmill. Each has a TV on it, other than the ones in the theater (more on that soon) and are generally comfortable to run. Once in a while, I hit one that’s squeaky or something, but nothing huge. I’ve tried all of the other cardio equipment and it’s in good working order. I especially like the new Expresso Bikes. They have games and various tracks you can ride on, and you can sync with the internet and compete with other users. When you go up hills, you can feel a change in the resistance and change gears — it’s much more realistic and interesting than the standard stationary bike. As for strength-​training equipment, there seems to be a lot of it, and a good variety of machines, but that’s all I can say about it. Overall, though, I’d say the equipment there is good.
4. Cleanliness — Good. Yeah, you encounter the occasional bum who doesn’t wipe down his/​her equipment but overall, people seem pretty responsible. When I’m there, there’s usually an employee walking around the whole time, cleaning the floor, equipment, and locker rooms.
5. Temperature through different seasons — Locker room is too cold. Gym is a bit hot for cardio, at least in the winter. Not sure what it’s like in the warmer months.
6. Other stuff — The Retro Theater is a small movie theater with cardio equipment in it. I like to go in there when I’m feeling anti-​social or don’t want people to watch me sweat! The movies they tend to show are a bit testosterone-​y for my liking. Just because I’m working out doesn’t mean I want to watch some action movie. Shakes are awesome and I’m a bit addicted. They are way too expensive, but you can get some freebies through FourSquare.
I do wish they offered some group classes, but I guess there really isn’t space for it. Besides that, no major complaints, particularly considering the price!

They have a very sneaky policy to cancel your membership. They charge you for 2 additional months once you cancel. I fulfilled my one year contract yet they still made me pay for another 2 months. I would recommend going to Planet Fitness on the Riverfront in Wilmington– Its cleaner and costs less and there are no strings attached.

I’ve gone to this gym almost from the time it opened earlier this year so here it goes:
1) Price… Unbeatable
2) Management and Employees… Phenomenal
3) Equipment… Average
4) Cleanliness… Good
5) Temperature through different seasons… Good
A couple issues:
1) the treadmills have not been realigned since they were originally installed. This means that if you are running above 10MPH you are literally in danger. They wobble because they are not balanced. I’ve tested them all.
2) If you’re a man… don’t use the urinal. It is the only urinal I have ever run into that doesn’t want to do its job. Actually it likes to return the favor directly back on you. Really bad design.
Overall it is a good gym despite some minor flaws. It is far superior to the alternatives in the area. And yes Virgina there is a Santa Claus, because unlike other gyms you can still grunt and lift heavy weight without being an outcast! They have Olympic weights.
As I said, the management is very responsive and does a great job (Yay Marlene!)