Luxury goods and services, such as entertainment venues, clothing stores or fitness centers, are often the sectors
that suffer the most during times of recession, economics professor Ronald Fisher said.

“During recession you’re likely to see more of a cut back in facilities where people have choices. You won’t see grocery stores or other necessities suffer as much,” Fisher said.

“Those kinds of businesses that provide services that people can easily give up are the ones that usually have the most problems.”

However, Snap Fitness has been able to establish and maintain itself in the East Lansing community, co-owner and MSU alumna Elizabeth Molinsky said.

The secret is in providing something new at a reasonable price, she said.

“We provide a value. In a time of a recession people want to get the most for their money,” Molinsky said.
“We provide a really good value for a gym and it’s something that is convenient.”

Molinsky, who graduated from MSU in 2004 with degrees in finance and hospitality business, and her business partner Brad Lazorka, a 1996 alumnus of the Eli Broad College of Business, are both familiar with the area.

Lazorka, who had investments in the area before opening Snap Fitness, sought out East Lansing specifically as the location of the gym.

“It’s a great place to do business,” Lazorka said. “Its very business friendly environment, I like the energy and I like working with the student demographic.”

The student demographic is crucial to any business, especially one so close to a college campus, Lazorka said.
Unless a business has a very specialized market they need to appeal to students, he said.

“(Snap Fitness is) not crowded, open all the time and it’s got everything you need,” marketing junior Dan Kreutzjans said.

“I always have a long work day so I can come work out at nine o’clock or 10 (at night).”
The economic recession has created poor conditions for new businesses in the area.

Venues such as Memo’s and E.L. Moe’s Firehouse Grill that opened around the same time as Snap Fitness have since gone out of business.

“There have been places that opened when we opened and opened after we opened that are now gone,” Molinsky said.
Other businesses that have followed the same strategy as Snap Fitness by appealing to students and keeping
prices low have also prospered.

La Bodega, 619 E. Grand River, a fair trade clothing store, opened in August 2009 and has built a loyal and growing client base by providing quality clothes at low prices, employee Kayla Holcomb said.

Much of La Bodega’s success is because of MSU students, she said.

“We are a $15 and under store, students appreciate that we provide fair trade clothing at a reasonable price,” Holcomb said.

“I’ve seen some denim stores open up in the area that sell jeans for $200 a pair and that doesn’t really work out with students who are on a budget.”