UP TO FIVE TIMES A DAY, the Lagree studio at CORE in Providence fills with people anticipating serious burn.
“You’re shaking the entire time you’re doing it,” said Denise Chakoian, owner and president of CORE Center of Real Energy LLC.
The workouts, done on Pilates-based machines designed by famed fitness visionary Sebastien Lagree, have been popularized by celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Michelle Obama, and attracted attention from a number of national publications.
They are also a hallmark of a shift in Chakoian’s business model, planned out while she was slightly less active than usual.
A 13-year veteran of Rhode Island’s fitness industry, Chakoian was shocked by a recent diagnosis of stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She continued to work during her six months of treatment but “did a lot of thinking about where I wanted this business to go,” she said. “I had to decide what I wanted the business to look like, and I decided that I wanted to do a rebranding, almost like a refresh.”
While she was sick, Chakoian, 46, decided to consolidate her company by moving it to one location. Reconfigurations included closing a Pilates studio, and bringing in Lagree, “a group workout that is Pilates-based but not quite Pilates,” Chakoian said. “I had machines custom designed for us; we have the latest machine in the U.S. right now.”
She settled on a space in Wayland Square, deciding that if it was still available when her treatment was over, she’d make the commitment.
After a seven-month construction process, the 7,000-square-foot space opened in July as CORE Cycle.Fitness.Lagree.
Designed to accommodate all fitness levels, the center features a rhythm-riding cycling room with custom sound and lighting, a group fitness studio equipped with cutting-edge treadmills and Rhode Island-made WaterRowers, and personal training and Pilates studios.
It’s the details, though, that complete the experience, Chakoian said. With shampoo, soap, hair care products and styling tools provided in locker rooms, kombucha on tap in the entryway and a space where members can buy athletic wear, the center differs from typical gyms.
“I wanted to create something that was different,” Chakoian said. “I wanted to elevate to a very high-end boutique.”
Memberships to the facility have increased as a result of the Lagree classes, she added. Its eight Lagree machines are in use four to five times a day, targeting the whole body in one session.
“We start with an ab series, and move on to the legs, then we do obliques and we do arms,” Chakoian said.
The move to Wayland Square brings CORE full circle. Chakoian, a former dancer and fitness instructor, created the company about 13 years ago after quitting a job at JP Morgan Chase & Co. She opened her first studio in Wayland Square, moving after nine years to East Avenue in Pawtucket. Along the way, CORE also operated CORE Pilates Mind Body Studio.
Now, Chakoian instructs cycling, Lagree, circuit and barre classes in the company’s new centralized location.
OWNER: Denise Chakoian
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Boutique fitness studio
LOCATION: 229 Waterman St., Providence
EMPLOYEES: 20
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 2006
ANNUAL SALES: WND
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Graham@PBN.com.
