The front doors to the newly relocated SpoonMoon fitness studio, a popular destination for college-aged workout enthusiasts. Photo credit | Emily Holverson.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The popular fitness studio, SpoonMoon, resumed business at new West Avenue location earlier this month. Now located in the heart of Dickson, the fitness studio is more accessible to students.
SpoonMoon is a locally owned and operated workout studio popular among University of Arkansas’ female students. According to the about page on SpoonMoon’s website, “We empower through an innovative approach to heated, multi-modality fitness that integrates mindfulness and intention into every movement.”
“It’s been exciting and stressful, but we’re glad to be where we should be,” Kim Evans, SpoonMoon founder, said. “Closest to our clientele and able to serve our biggest demographic.”
When SpoonMoon first opened in 2020 on Joyce Boulevard, it had 2,700 square feet of space and two rooms. As business took off, SpoonMoon outgrew its original location. The new studio is about 4,000 square feet with an additional workout room.
“We were selling out all of our classes, and I had limited space to expand,” Evans said. “Now we have ample opportunity to grow as our clientele does.”
The workout class style fitness studio allows girls to put on a matching workout set, workout with their friends, take pictures and post them on social media to display their healthy lifestyles. This promotes the idea that in order to attain the lifestyle so many girls want, they must get a membership, thus skyrocketing SpoonMoons popularity.
Not only did the space expand, but so did the class schedule. The additional room allows for an extended schedule with more class times. According to Evans, finding the location was “a piece of cake.” When she had been approached by a realtor with empty commercial space under the West Avenue Parking deck, it was a “no-brainer.”
From a nearly 20-minute drive to a short walk, the biggest benefit of the new location is the proximity to campus. [Clients] can walk from class, take a class, shower and walk back to class,” Evans said. SpoonMoon’s key demographic are Greek-affiliated women. “Most of our girls are in a sorority so they can walk down from their sorority house or dorms.”
“The other thing that’s super cool that we didn’t have accessible at the Joyce location is the ability to make it more of an experience,” Evans said. There are smoothie and coffee shops, trails, restaurants and bars within walking distance. The addition of SpoonMoon to Dickson Street creates more traffic for those surrounding businesses.
“It allows for a more well-rounded lifestyle,” Evans said. “When you have to drive out the way to a location it disrupts the pattern of what [a client] wants in her life.”
When opening at the original location in 2020, Evans was working with a “tight budget,” buying furniture from Walmart and building whatever she could to save money. “It felt homey and it got the job done, but it wasn’t really the vision I had for SpoonMoon,” Evans said.
The new West Avenue location was just gravel and blank walls when it was purchased. “It was a complete construction ground up project,” Evans said.
Evans has been in the fitness industry for over 20 years, “I’ve seen a lot of facilities, I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t,” she said. This experience gave her an understanding of what is needed to create an intentional exercise space. “Having the opportunity to create from the ground up was really cool,” Evans said.
“Taking all the information, I’ve learned in my career and putting it into the plan for West Ave. was really great because not only is the space really functional but its sleek, modern, and eco- friendly” “It allows me to grow the brand and still have it feel like me,” Evans said.
SpoonMoon is looking to expand to other college towns where there is less access to active lifestyles but just as much demand, such as Tuscaloosa, Ala. and Oxford, Miss.