Black Box VR to open Washington, D.C. facility

Fitness is going high tech at a downtown Boise gym thanks to virtual reality.

Black Box VR formally opened its Boise facility at The Gym Eighth & Main on Aug. 28 and is planning to open a similar facility in Washington, D.C. in the coming months in a forthcoming “super gym.”

The Black Box VR portion of The Gym Eighth & Main facility measures 1,233 square feet in an existing room. It is expected to contain seven Black Box VR machines, each with its dedicated workout space.

Members of The Gym Eighth & Main can add Black Box VR as a supplement to their existing memberships or members can join just for Black Box VR.

The company offers two types of facilities: Corporate-owned, such as its 4,000-square-foot facility in San Francisco, and “box in a box,” or a Black Box VR facility within an existing gym, such as its facility in Boise. The facility in Washington, D.C. will be of the latter type, said general manager Jim Bradbury.

Bradbury wouldn’t reveal the name of the Washington, D.C. gym, but said it would be about a 40,000 square foot facility overall with a number of stations, one of which would be Black Box VR.

Bradbury wouldn’t say when the Washington, D.C. gym was scheduled to open, but Black Box VR co-founder Preston Lewis had said in April that franchises in other cities could open up as soon as October.

Access to fitness centers is considered an important amenity in Washington, D.C. office buildings, according to the Commercial Observer.

Black Box VR is also tweaking the pricing model in all of its facilities, not just to lower the price but to make it more attractive to millennials who might not want to make such a big financial commitment upfront, Bradbury said. Previously, the company had offered a grand opening special of $199 a month for unlimited access, with a recommended use of 12 times per month, he said. The price was slated to increase to $288 per month.

Now the company is adding options of four sessions per month for $59 and eight sessions per month for $89, as well as reducing the unlimited price to $139 per month. That pricing model supports customers who want the freedom to be able to pick and choose from a variety of fitness options and who are more concerned with flexibility than with lowering their per-class cost, Bradbury said.

In addition, the company said it would be announcing an “unlimited premier” option for $239 a month that will offer unspecified “bonus features.” It did not say when this option would be available.

The company had considered opening a corporate-owned facility in Boise, but when The Gym Eighth & Main opportunity arose, it chose to try the “box in a box” strategy for Boise instead. Black Box VR employees are responsible for maintaining the experience for the gym member, including keeping the facility clean and resolving minor technical issues. Black Box VR will also use its Boise facility as a test bed for its “box in a box” concept, such as determining the skills employees will need.

Meanwhile, the company’s San Francisco flagship is getting international attention, and is converting from trials to new members at a rate at or above the industry average, Bradbury said earlier this year. At the same time, the San Francisco market is demanding because of the large number of fitness options, meaning that once a company loses a client, it might not get them back, he said.

Exercising with VR technology is said to have advantages, including a significant decrease in heart rate, pain intensity and perceived exertion, leading to a significant increase in time to exhaustion, according to 2018 research from the University of Kent.