July Business of the Month Spotlight - THE GYM

Albert Fuentes, (pictured on the left) and his son Adam Fuentes, (pictured on the right), accept their Business of the Month Award for July 2024.

Kicking off the month of July, Connect Del Rio’s President Willard Jenkins and Operations Officer, Anakaren Aguilar, presented the Business of the Month Award to The Gym located on 12th Street. 

Members of the community flocked to Connect Del Rio’s Facebook and Instagram pages to praise The Gym and vote them as their favorite fitness-based business in town. The Gym first opened its doors in 2011, largely inspired by the dedication to fitness shared by the owner, Albert Fuentes, his children, and their grandmother, who is still working out at the age of 83. It is by all accounts, a family business dedicated to treating their clientele like family and providing them with the best atmosphere, equipment, and experience possible. “People come in and more so than the equipment, it’s the homey vibe and family environment that makes them keep coming back,” Adam Fuentes told us. 

For many, joining a gym and starting a fitness routine can be intimidating, at The Gym, they make it a priority to make anyone who walks through their doors as comfortable and confident as possible. “We always help out anybody who comes in, you don’t have to have a personal trainer to get the help,” Albert Fuentes told us. “If anybody comes in, signs up, and asks us what’s a good routine, we’ll help them out for a whole week before sending them on their way to do their own thing,” Adam Fuentes elaborated on the support they bring to members at all fitness levels, including beginners. “It makes a difference,” Albert added. 

The Gym's main room, with 24-hour access for all paid monthly memberships, year round.

In recent years, they’ve expanded their business with more outdoor space and a wider range of machines, most recently introducing group fitness classes in the mornings and evenings, each class tailored to specific goals/targets including cardio, upper body, and lower body. 

They also shared some of the aspects of their business that set them apart from other gyms, including: hand-picked machines and equipment, no contracts, and 24-hour access, even on holidays. As far as the no contract/no obligation policy, Adam explains, “You come in and we have you sign a liability form, show you around, and we just plug you in month to month, if you don’t wanna come in, take a break, we’ll start you back up fresh when you’re ready to come back.” 

“As long as you’re on a direct deposit with your membership fee coming out every month, you get that 24 hour access, other than that, our office hours are from 6am to 10pm, Monday-Friday,” Adam explained. “We’re never closed: Christmas, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, our doors are always open,” he continued. 

The Gym looks forward to continuing to expand their space, welcome new members, and maintain positive and collaborative relationships with other gyms in town. They are also looking to begin their own printing business for their popular merchandise such as logo t-shirts and hoodies, in the near future.

This Journalist can be reached at alondra.sanchez@connectdelrio.com