ZenStudio Fitness to open first Memphis location

ZenStudio Fitness owner Camden Hyneman never liked to work out that much, but she loved cycling and became hooked on it while attending Fordham University and living in New York City in the late 2000s. She had intended to pursue her doctorate after finishing graduate school, but instead moved home to Arkansas to open her own business.

“I thought the idea of opening a boutique spin studio was really awesome, so I moved home to Arkansas to open one in Jonesboro in 2010,” said Hyneman. The business was called ZenSpin originally, and by the time a second location opened in Little Rock in 2012 the studio had added barre, yoga and strength classes.

That’s when Hyneman changed the name of the business to ZenStudio Fitness. ZenStudio is an Arkansas-based group fitness boutique offering indoor cycling, barre, yoga, pilates, bounce, and interval training classes

Now with four locations in Arkansas, she’s chosen Memphis for the newest location. Construction is underway in East Memphis on a 2,790-square-foot space owned by Loeb Properties at 5270 Poplar Avenue.

“It’s a great building that centrally located. We’ll have a lot of space. We’ll be able to have child care, showers, and this will be our first studio that has tiered, stadium seating,” said Hyneman.

The building was gutted, and interiors are being built from the ground up. R&R General Contractors is coordinating the construction and design work.

Last year, ZenStudio opened its first licensed studio (with a different owner) in Fayetteville. Memphis had been on Hyneman’s mind for a long time for future expansion.

“I’m from Jonesboro, and I grew up on Memphis. I love Memphis, always loved it,” said Hyneman. “I felt like Memphis hasn’t really been tapped into with hybrid group studios yet, where we have multiple types of classes under one roof but more in a boutique setting versus a large box gym.”

She plans to move to Memphis to manage and run the new studio, which should be open by early 2018. A staff of roughly 15 will be hired, including highly trained instructors for the variety of classes offered.

“I’m also interested in opening a location in Germantown, and Nashville has been on my radar for a while,” said Hyneman. “We’re also talking with some people about licensing some more studios."