Meet the Bucks County entrepreneur with the bold plan to revitalize Neshaminy Mall

Tony Chowdhury, the affable founder and CEO of Fusion Gyms, is sitting behind a desk the size of a small aircraft carrier that overlooks the vast workout floor of his latest facility in Fairless Hills as he talked risk versus reward.

"Great entrepreneurs are people that go down where there is no path and leave a trail for others to follow," he said.

Chowdhury's path is to build a national fitness empire and join the nation's ranks of billionaires with his Fusion brand — mammoth, state of the art facilities that for $69 a month give workout enthusiasts "affordable luxury" in what he calls a "lifters paradise."

Fairless Hills is his third Fusion location, but his plans for a fourth could reviatliaze one of Bucks County's struggling malls.

Chowdhury, 34, will create his next gym by acquiring the shuttered Macy’s at the beleaguered Neshaminy Mall in Bensalem.

When complete, the 220,000-square-foot building will have a vast fitness center (featuring Chowdhury's own brand of equipment, "Relentless"), a 9-hole golf course, 20 pickle ball courts, a Vegas-style 500,000 gallon swimming pool and a restaurant, among other eye-popping amenities not found at a $10-a-month gym.

Expect a grand opening about a year from now in the former mall anchor store, which closed in 2017. The owner of the mall sold that parcel the next year, and it has been marketed for redevelopment since.

“Depending on the permitting process, depending on how fast we can raise the capital, it’s gonna take us nine months to a year from beginning to end,” he said.

“It’s gonna be a big shot in the arm,” to the Neshaminy Mall, Chowdhury said. “We’re actually gonna buy that building.”

Redeveloping Neshaminy Mall by moving away from retail

Like many older retail malls, Neshaminy has fallen on hard times as online shopping and home delivery services largely eliminates the need for shoppers to head to brick-and-mortar businesses.

Chowdhury said the economics for his gyms, which combine several smaller businesses, like barber shops and restaurants, beneath one roof, makes it a profitable venture. A lot of big-box retail buildings are empty and available for cheap, he said.

“Retail is dying and shifting throughout the states, so it’s easier to find these bigger properties, it’s easier to finance them, it’s easier to raise capital for them because we can unlock value that most landlords can’t,” he said.

So far, the former personal trainer and sales manager for LA Fitness, Planet Fitness and Retro Fitness has flipped empty buildings into luxe health facilities.

“I know how the business works,” he said.

Fusion Gyms has two locations in Philadelphia, one in South Philly, another on Grant Avenue in the Northeast. His third opened last September in the empty Mealey’s furniture outlet on Lincoln Highway in Fairless Hills.

“I believe if you can find problems in the world and you can create a solution, you can make a lot of money. There is a big problem in the retail market, it’s dramatically shifted and changed.”

Fusion Gyms business model at work

He’s taking advantage of that change. The downfall of once mighty mall retail is a business opportunity for him. Take the Fairless Hills location. The Mealey’s store had closed.

“Nobody wanted it,” he said.

The Fairless Hills location has 75,000 square feet of indoor space, and 125,000 outdoor. The outdoor space has an expansive outdoor gym (“It’s just a nice experience” for a workout he said), as well as a boxing ring, basketball courts, semi-private seating areas with double-sided fireplaces and TV screens.

The Neshaminy location will be three times bigger than the Fairless Hills. The second level will have 20 pickle ball courts, and a nine-hole golf course.

“You’ll practice your short game, and there will be 20 simulators so you can focus on driving,” he said. “Golf is loved by a lot, but since we’re on the East Coast, it’s a very seasonal business. Rainy days you can’t play golf.”

So you can head to Fusion to hit the ball, virtually, getting real-time data on what you need to improve.

“You’ll actually be able to practice getting better at golf,” he said.

Can 'affordable luxury' transform Neshaminy Mall space?

While there are large fitness facilities such as the Newtown Athletic Center, his price of $69 a month and no contract or initiation fee for access to all the amenities, is a deal, Chowdhury said.

“All those (smaller businesses within Fusion) already exist on their own. No one has consolidated them under one roof. I feel that anyone who does it will be very successful, because at that point, you have no competition. Take the NAC. It’s a beautiful facility, but not everyone can afford it. It’s expensive, like $200 a month. We’re $69. It’s affordable luxury.”

Fusion in Fairless Hills is definitely luxe, from its marble floors to its gold barber shop chairs (with nine full-time barbers) and a restaurant that serves only healthy food, “but with flavors from around the world.”

And, the eatery is open to the general public, and there’s an open invitation to non-members to drop by to watch Philly sports on a 100-inch screen. He’s joined with Vault Brewing to sell beer, too.

“We want to build a community, not just run a gym,” he said.

Who is Tony Chowdhury and how has he built his business?

The Neshaminy venture has a sentimental element, too. Chowdhury’s family emigrated from Bangladesh about 30 years ago.

“We wanted to come back to where it all started,” he said.

His father, with little schooling or little money, came over first, landing in Bensalem. He shared a two-bedroom apartment with six other men. His dad operated small kiosk businesses at the Gallery and Cheltenham malls.

“I essentially grew up in the mall, grew up around business,” he said.

In six months, his father had purchased the family’s first house, a fire-damaged place in University City in West Philly. Without any construction background, he renovated the house by himself.

“It’s not what you leave for your kids that matters,” he said, “It’s what you leave in your kids that matters. And the one my dad left in me is an entrepreneurial spirit.

“I watched him do a lot of things. Just out of sheer will, I saw how he forced himself to figure it out. So, I get that from him. I just figure it out as I go,” Chowdhury said.

He graduated from University City High School, but did not go to college. Instead, he read hundreds of motivational books, believing the best life lessons are learned through the experience of others, not classroom theories.

“A lot of people look at education as a time of life, I look at it as a way of life,” he said.

A skinny frail kid, Chowdhury said he discovered weight training and fitness early, at 18. There was a gym across the street from his house where he grew up. He got his first job at LA Fitness.

“I never looked back,” he said.

JD Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at jmullane@couriertimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Young entrepreneur will redevelop Macy's at Neshaminy as super gym