Published by The Baltimore Business Journal
November 25th, 2019
Knockout Fitness opened its second location over the weekend, bringing its specialized boxing and fitness classes north to Towson.
Much like the gym’s first location in Federal Hill, the new 9,700-square-foot space has a “club-like” environment and offers group classes, personal training and advanced boxing in rooms decked out with LED lighting, special effects, powerful sound systems, video projections and graffiti-covered walls.
The new gym at 321 York Road near Towson University is two stories and double the size of the Southwest Baltimore location. It’s located in a commercial building surrounded by other upcoming and established mixed-use developments.
Brothers, trainers and co-owners Chris and Jason Nissley said in an interview earlier this year that they always planned to expand the Knockout Fitness concept, but decided to do so now because memberships have been strong. The brothers are hoping to open a few more gyms over the next couple of years, although no specifics have been worked out yet.
The decor in the new space is not unlike its counterpart in the city with dark walls and colorful lights. Originally, the Nissley brothers had hoped to incorporate a boxing ring into the design, but opted not to in order to leave more room for classes and other programming. However, one can still be brought in for special events, said Knockout Fitness marketing representative Kira Nissley.
There are also a number of “Instagrammable moments” scattered throughout the space, including neon signs with creative slogans as well as a photo wall, which encourages visitors to take pictures before or after their work-outs.
“People love to take photos with them and post on social media, which was the idea behind it all,” Kira Nissley said. “They wanted to create a post-worthy environment where members share photos with friends.”
