BARRE MILWAUKEE SHAPING UP TO BE A SUCCESS
Who:
Christina Zarnowski, owner
What:
Barre Milwaukee
Where:
5211 W. North Ave.
When:
Established in 2016
Opportunity drew Christina Zarnowski to Uptown Crossing. Community is what she found — and cultivated.
“I love the community of this area,” said Zarnowski, the owner of Barre Milwaukee, a local fitness destination. “It’s a place where my clients leave the studio and are treated just as well as I treat them. I take walks with my personal training clients and they say, do you know everybody?”
Zarnowski didn’t know much about Uptown Crossing when she first rented her studio at 5211 W. North Ave. in 2016, but she felt at home right away. When an opportunity to buy the 5,500-square foot building came up three years later, she took it.
Everyone she has met has been welcoming. Scott Meier, from whom she bought her building, is very supportive of small business owners. And Zarnowski has something in common with other business owners nearby.
“Our block is completely women-owned,” she said. “We really think that’s cool.”
Zarnowski and her family also live in the area. They moved to nearby Washington Heights in 2018 because they were attracted to the community feel, the neighborhood and the location. Zarnowski now commutes to work by bicycle as often as she can.
“We just absolutely love everything about the area,” she said. “And I would not want my business anywhere else.”
“I’m an open book, there are no professional relationships with me. You are a friend.”
— Christina Zarnowsky
At Barre Milwaukee, Zarnowski leads barre and yoga classes, and provides personal training as well. Although her clients come from all over Milwaukee, the majority of people who work out at the studio also live close by.
“We’ve focused 100 percent on the North Avenue community,” she said. “The biggest advertising we’ve ever had is word of mouth. A client comes in as a stranger and leaves a Barre bestie.”
In 2020, the pandemic extended Barre Milwaukee’s virtual reach beyond Uptown Crossing. When businesses were forced to close temporarily for safety precautions, Zarnowski immediately began making fitness videos and providing live Facebook feeds. Soon, more than 1,500 people were watching the feeds.
Donations, class presales and merchandise sales with home delivery got Barre Milwaukee through the following weeks until businesses could safely reopen. When a client experienced a temporary financial setback due to the pandemic, Zarnowkski did what she could to help them continue to attend sessions.
As pandemic restrictions eased and clients began to come back to on-site classes, many of them said Barre Milwaukee was the only place they felt comfortable going at first. In-person classes are now provided seven days a week, with ample space between individuals.
Zarnowski and Barre Milwaukee manager Annie Tower took time early in the pandemic to become certified as personal trainers, which allowed them to add the service to the studio’s offerings.
Zarnowski is accustomed to finding new ways to grow amid change. She got into the fitness business after taking up running and intensifying her fitness regimen about seven years ago. As she worked out at a local gym, she realized she could get paid for teaching fitness classes. When she began teaching barre classes, she fell head over heels.