TRAINING TEAM: Francesca and Dimitri Giankoulas co-own Pure Motivation Fitness, recently opened in Maple. The couple says the studio is much more than just a place to workout. (Corey Lewis/Vaughan Today)
The Dufferin St. and Major Mackenzie Dr. studio is so much more than that, its owner says.
“I’ve worked in every fitness club in Toronto,” Giankoulas said. “I’ve managed every club. I wanted to create something different that was going to be extremely service oriented, had a different look and . . . give it a touch of class.”
Pure Motivation Fitness, which celebrated its grand opening March 14, will offer its clientele a more personalized and upscale experience, he said.
An extension of his personal training company, which saw his staff visit members in their homes to supervise workouts and offer nutrition counselling, Pure Motivation Fitness will differ from the traditional, unfriendly gym, he said.
The studio offers a wide variety of services for all ages, including kids’ fitness classes, pre- and post-natal training, yoga classes, and flexibility and rehab training.
The studio will exhibit “all the small touches the big clubs don’t have,” Giankoulas said.
“From the moment they step in to the moment they leave, the clients are the main focus,” he said. “They feel like they’re at a high-end retreat, a high-end resort.”
Opening in Vaughan was a natural choice, Giankoulous said. The former body builder and all-around athlete, who lives five minutes away with his family, said he wants to be a part of the community.
He also saw a business opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“There’s 12,000 homes scheduled to be built in the community,” he said of a nearby subdivision under development. “There’s nothing really like this type of facility in the area.”
Though Giankoulous plans on opening another location, he’s reluctant to expand further than that.
“I feel the bigger you get, the less your service becomes,” he said.
