Barn Finds New Life As Fitness Center

Barn Finds New Life As Fitness Center 30-2-8 Instead of raising and selling Quarter horses as his father did, Curt Leeseberg uses the Wadena, Minn., family farm to sell another commodity - fitness. About a year ago, he officially opened The Fitness Barn health club after sawing out the sturdy oak stalls his father built for horses. He replaced the steel roof, insulated, wired and added plumbing, and covered the inside walls in easy-to-maintain steel. Along with the health club, he also sells sporting goods, nutritional supplements, and is a dealer for Horizon Fitness exercise equipment. The fitness center has top-of-the-line cardio and weightlifting equipment, a large wrestling mat, boxing equipment and wrestling takedown machines. After losing his job of 22 years in the Twin Cities a couple of years ago, Curt moved to his family's farm to figure out how to make a living there. He and his wife, Keri, considered renting a building in town to set up their health club. But the cost of rent, plus remodeling was high. Curt decided to invest the money right on the farm. "We only remodeled half (the pole barn) in case it didn't work," explains Curt from behind the counter of his 30 by 30-ft. facility. After one year, the business is working, and Curt hopes to remodel the rest of the building soon. Despite being in the country, the number of clients is growing steadily. Curt's farm is located less than a mile off busy Highway 71. A bright yellow sign, with the clever logo of a barn within a man's biceps, brings people in. Keri notes that The Fitness Barn has good equipment, which people like. "The biggest thing is people don't want to wait or work out around a lot of people," Curt says. His clients set up appointments, and though he can accommodate about 12 people, usually no more than three or four are working out at a time. A former salesman, Curt stresses personal service. He likes to schedule first time clients when no one else is working out, so that he can explain the equipment and get them started at their own level. "I always start people out very slowly," he says. Curt markets The Fitness Barn with booths at wrestling tournaments and other events. Local county fairs have also turned out to be great exposure, he says. A website for the business helps sell exercise equipment; Curt recently delivered a piece to northern Minnesota. While he's done some radio and print advertising, Curt believes personal contact has netted the most business. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Curt Leeseberg, 11233 Todd Line Road, Wadena, Minn. 56482 (ph 218 924-4477; help@fitnessbarn.net; www.fitnessbarn.net).

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