Business Matters: Nation’s First Life Time Swim School
A new swim school is set to make a splash in the northwest suburbs. Life Time, Inc. is supplementing its regular clubs with a nationwide first and it selected Maple Grove to be its test pilot.
Crunch Time for Mid-December Opening
It’s crunch time in Maple Grove. Crunch time because we’re only a few weeks away from a construction zone along Hemlock Lane, east of Central Park, making way for the opening of Life Time Swim Maple Grove. It’s the company’s first standalone swim school in the country.
The new Life Time Swim offers a wide array of amenities. There’s complimentary coffee and espresso. You’ll find heated floors in the locker room. And there’s stadium seating for pool spectators.
“We have really gone to the extreme in the experience and the place and really just created luxury amenities and wonderful pool facility for people to swim in,” said Alicia Kockler, vice president of Life Time Swim.
All About Convenience
Life Time Swim Maple Grove’s 18,000-square-foot building is substantially smaller than the regular Life Time clubs. The smaller footprint helps it locate in places it wouldn’t be able to be otherwise. That’s one reason for the new concept. The demand for swim lessons played a role too.
“The growing demand for swim lessons around the country is growing exponentially,” said Kockler. “Our own participation itself is growing in the double digits year in year out with the number of kids coming into the program.”
The Maple Grove location expects to train about 2,500 swimmers a week, offering group, private and semi-private lessons for children as young as four months up to adults. You don’t have to be a Life Time member to join.
“We’re all about convenience,” said Kockler. “Members pick a day and time that works for them. You keep that day and time until you choose to cancel.”
For kids who want to pursue swimming as a sport, one of the facility’s two six-lane pools will be used for Life Time’s competitive swim team.
View from inside Life Time Swim Maple Grove
“Growing Area with Great Demographics”
If you’re wondering why Life Time chose Maple Grove, just look to its neighbors. Signs for luxury apartments and single-family homes are going up all around it.
“Maple Grove is just a really growing area with great demographics. We have a lot of families and kids out here so we wanted to come out,” said Kockler.
Life Time Swim Maple Grove expects to open in mid-December. You can start registering for classes now. If you sign up by the end of December, you can lock in $10 a month savings for the life of the membership. It’s also currently hiring. A perk for employees is a Life Time membership.
Once the new club gets its toes wet, Kockler says she expects planning to start for other Life Time Swims around the Twin Cities.
