South Thurston County residents now have a new option for their fitness needs as Get Fit Yelm has expanded into a second location in Tenino.
Get Fit Tenino officially opened Jan. 1 for a soft opening and offers memberships that include 24-hour access to the facility, located at 139 Stage St.
The facility includes basic equipment such as treadmills, ellipticals, exercise bikes, rowers, cables and a variety of free weights. Get Fit Tenino also features three different squat racks, a Smith machine, a deadlift platform and more.
The concept of expansion was not particularly on owner Kasey Cartledge’s to-do list, but while she and a friend were on their way back from Portland in May of 2023, she saw that the facility was for sale. It previously housed a farm and feed store.
“We both kind of looked at each other and we were like, ‘That would be a really good gym,’” Cartledge said. “There was no a-ha moment besides that. We just randomly stumbled upon this.”
The Jan. 1, 2025, soft opening marked the three-year anniversary of when Cartledge took over Get Fit Yelm in 2022. She has worked for Get Fit Yelm for over 13 years, and she believed Tenino was a worthy place to expand because she envisioned an economic boom like Yelm experienced in recent years. She also knew there was a need for a gym in south Thurston County.
“I had talked to a mutual friend who lives out in Rochester, and he explained that he has to drive 20 minutes to get to the closest gym. He didn’t even really care for the gym, but it was the only option,” Cartledge said. “I want to give a convenient option for people to get healthy in a small town.”
She began the process of purchasing the building in June of 2023 by searching for loan lenders and contractors, as well as planning out the design for the gym. The latter task was the easiest for Cartledge.
“I like to give myself kudos that I can always picture what something could be. I think that’s what has made me a pretty good entrepreneur,” she said. “It’s a little bit easier trying to envision a gym. You need an open, clean space. You don’t need a lot for a gym.”
The next step was the remodel, which included the roof, plumbing, flooring, electrical, painting and more. Cartledge and her crew also had to clean hay, cobwebs and debris left from the previous business.
She hoped to open Get Fit Tenino in the summer of 2024, but she had to switch contractors, which pushed the open date into the new year. As the farm and feed store used to sell propane, Cartledge and her staff is continuing the sale of propane since it was the only spot in town selling it. The staff used the tagline “House of Gains and Propane” while the construction process was ongoing, and the propane sales helped spread the word about the upcoming gym opening.
“People were like, ‘Why would a gym sell propane?’ And I say, ‘Why not?’ There’s no other access to propane unless you want to drive to Tumwater or Rainier or Rochester,” Cartledge said. “We are the only propane retailer and distributor in Tenino. I think that it helped keep some excitement alive for people. People got to peek in and watch the progress.”
Get Fit Tenino’s soft opening was by appointment only to prevent lots of customers waiting to sign up. Cartledge said the first week of business has been consistent with appointments and memberships despite asking customers to be patient as the staff tested a new computer system.
“We stayed busy all day. I’m so grateful. You hope people come and support your business, and to see people actually walking in and signing up and being excited was really cool,” she said. “Now a lot of the chaos has kind of subsided. Honestly, more members have signed up than I thought we’d have for a soft open.”
Cartledge said she hopes to organize a grand opening event by the end of the month with apparel, product samples and giveaways. In the future, Get Fit Tenino will offer an infrared sauna and a kickboxing bag, and she said she is taking notes on what Tenino residents want as the facility has an extra room that has yet to be utilized.
The opportunity to expand to Tenino also presented Cartledge with another outlet to honor the late Get Fit Yelm founder Nic Younis, who passed away in 2017. The Get Fit logos feature a silhouette that depicts Younis, who was a bodybuilder.
One way Cartledge hopes to keep Younis’ memory alive is by providing youth access to a gym and steering them away from troublesome paths. She also said the business honors Younis by offering “nutrition programs and good, clean supplements.”
“We start signing people up at 7 because Nic was a kid who was starting to get in trouble and kind of go down the wrong path, and he found the gym,” Cartledge said. “We wanted to be able to offer that to Tenino. We love having kids here building healthy habits because the gym won’t be so scary and a mystery when they grow up.”
Cartledge sees further upgrades within the two locations in the next five years, but her motivation is to continue to help people in the community commit to healthy habits, something she believes Younis would be proud of.
“We don’t care what you look like when you walk through the door. We don’t care if you have abs. We don’t care if you have muscles. We don’t care if you’re trying to gain weight or lose weight,” Cartledge said. “We just care that you’re trying to better yourself, and we want to genuinely help small communities do that.”
To learn more about Get Fit Tenino, visit its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GetFitTenino and its website at https://www.eliteperformance.club/.
