By Sterling McGinn
For those who love to work out and for those wanting the opportunity—get ready—because a 24-hour physical fitness center is getting ready to open their doors in the Newberry area.
Tiger and Emily Marcotte of Manistique started Yooper Fitness in 2020 with their first gym in downtown Manistique.
“Tiger and I are both nurses and it is important to us to offer fitness to those on shift work,” said Emily Marcotte. “Those working shifts sometimes don’t have access to gyms because of that. We have been looking into Newberry for some time and the biggest thing to us is to have this kind of service in small towns—there is not a ton of access to 24-hour gyms over there.”
The Marcottes will be renting the former Pickleman’s Performance building on M-28 near Pizza Hut and the Newberry Campground. The couple are hoping to have the new fitness center open by April of this year, as long as there are no issues setting up the equipment.
“We have members from Newberry that travel to Manistique at times, and we have been asked by Newberry residents to open a location there,” she said.
The Marcottes posted a survey looking to gauge interest of Newberry residents in a 24-hour physical fitness center–and they found plenty.
Once the Yooper Fitness Newberry location is settled and opened for business, the gym is looking to offer training services, and group and youth classes.
Using the gym will require a membership. Monthly and annual memberships will be offered.
“We also have discounts for seniors and veterans/active military and first responders,” she said. “We work with businesses small and large for them to provide gym membership for their employees. We will also be offering early sign ups when the opening date is closer.
The Marcottes are U.P. natives and both attended Finlandia University to become nurses. They live in Manistique with children Bauer, Cooper, and Ryann.
The couple opened their first gym in March 2020–only to have it closed eight days later following the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. “We were closed for 84 days, so we had a rocky start with Yooper Fitness,” Marcotte said.
In 2022, Yooper Fitness opened their second location in L’Anse, Michigan, which was Tiger’s hometown.
The Marcottes are excited about their new venture in Newberry and have created a Facebook page for the Newberry location called Yooper Fitness-Newberry. “We will be updating that as we get closer,” Marcotte said.
Yooper Fitness also has a website: yooperfitness.net.
