Kevin Branco is Main Street Gym’s Newest Improvement

It’s officially bikini season--the time of year when many people force themselves out of their winter slumps and back into workout mode. And for those who don’t frequent the local gym, there's a convenient option on Hellertown's Main Street.

 has had some work done in recent months. New classes are being offered, new equipment has been added, and even the gym’s logo is in the process of changing. This is all thanks to new owner Kevin Branco, who took over the fitness facility 18 months ago.

Branco is familiar to many because he was a personal trainer at the gym for two years under the previous owner, Dano Guerrieri. When Guerrieri decided he wanted to spend more time with his children, Branco jumped at the opportunity to purchase the business. Since taking over, he has taken the concept of the old Main Street Gym and made it more about his customers.

“Whenever someone new joins the gym, I offer a personal training session, whatever they want on their time,” said Branco. “If they don’t have time until next month, that’s fine. What I do is I give them a full program for whatever they want. I go over quick medical history just to make sure everything moves in the right direction. I’ll take in any accounts of a bum knee or a bad back,” he explained. 

The personal training sessions can be done at the gym or in your home. Branco is even trying to start a class unofficially called “Neighborhood Boot Camp,” where friends can gather at a house in their neighborhood and get personal training as a group. On top of getting that class started, he has added a number of other classes in the basement of the gym, such as Zumba, elaborate step aerobics, a new shape class geared towards women, a Systema Russian Martial Arts self-defense class, and boot camp class, which is only for those looking for an extreme workout.

“I’ve seen people that have excelled at other camps come to ours and fail miserably. It’s very, very intensive. I always tell people, ‘If you’re looking for a challenge, give this a try,’” Branco laughed.

The gym has a new look as well. Branco has changed the color scheme and is slowly introducing a new logo. He’s added four 15-inch TVs, two located in the front weight room and two in the back cardio room. The gym has always had tanning, but now it has a new tanning bed with prices a third of those charged by area competition. There is also some new workout equipment.

“I’m trying to add new classes to go with the equipment and I’m trying to make it a little bit more female friendly. It was never female unfriendly, but it was never really appealing,” Branco explained. “I looked at our membership and I said, ‘Alright, we have a great male membership but our female membership was outnumbered almost two to one.’ I thought, ‘Why is that?’ I figured it was the basic design, the color scheme and how the place is set up, things like that. Now I’m up to almost 50/50.”

The many changes Branco has made to the gym have boosted total membership by about 100 members. He gives a lot of credit to his three-month trial memberships, which allow customers to try out the gym without feeling obligated to join. With all of these changes in place, Branco said he is proudest of the service he gives his customers. He has even had people tell him “This is like ‘Cheers’ without the alcohol.”

“I know everybody’s name that comes in. There are almost 450 members and I know just about every single one of them,” Branco said.

He added, “When I was applying for loans for this place, they asked what kind of niche I was trying to hit. I said, ‘I’m not trying to hit a niche. I’m trying to appeal to everybody. I want to hit male and female, as old as possible to as young as 13,” he explained.

Branco said he offers service unlike any he has experienced at gyms in the past.

He explained that throughout his high school and college football careers, he was a member of numerous gyms.

“You walk in and the person at the desk typically doesn’t know anything about you or working out in general. Here, if you have any questions, you can call me and say, ‘Hey, I just signed up for a membership yesterday, but I fell and broke my leg.’ Don’t worry about it. I cancel the membership and put it on hold for you. I have people call and say, ‘I hurt my lower back so I won’t be in for a little bit,’ and I say, ‘Why don’t you come in anyway and I’ll give you some exercises to make it better quicker.’ It’s that personal atmosphere, always willing to help. I figure I’m always here so I might as well help. That’s what separates us from everybody else.”

Another quality service factor is his honor system with members. Admitting that it wasn’t part of his original business plan, Branco said he offers customers an account system that allows them to take a drink from the cooler, purchase a t-shirt or use the tanning bed without taking out their wallet right away. He adds it to the member’s account and has them billed later.

“I thought it was just good business sense, but the customer service is just so much better.” He explained further, “People look forward to coming in and seeing me or one of my employees behind the desk. I only hire people that act like me, who are outgoing and say ‘Hi’ to people and remember people’s names, you know, ask how their vacation is. That’s just our service.”

The location of Main Street Gym has also helped it become a success for Branco. Prominently located on Main Street, it’s on the way to or from work for many Hellertown residents. He describes it as a “working person’s gym,” as some of his customers come in wearing work boots or lab coats.

“Everybody’s looking for an excuse not to go to the gym. It’s too hot out, it’s too cold out, it’s raining, it’s Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, it’s the weekend, it’s my day off, I have to work today, it doesn’t matter," he said. "There is always an excuse, but we have it readily available when you drive past and friendly people who are willing to show you what to do. That makes a world of a difference and I’ve noticed that as the owner, being able to be here 90 hours a week and actually putting my time here. I see people come in that wouldn’t normally hang around now coming in and asking, ‘Hey, what can I do for this kind of exercise?’ It’s really been a good experience so far.”

Located at 910 Main Street in Hellertown, Main Street Gym offers a seven-day free trial membership for interested customers.

The gym is open from 6am to 10pm Monday-Friday, 8am to 5pm Saturdays, and 8am to 3pm Sundays.

Visit www.mainstgym.com or the Main Street Gym Facebook page for more information.