Building Gyms from the Ground Up – Eric Hires

Today's podcast episode features an interview with gym founder Eric Hires. Eric is the co-owner of Stone Climbing, the first location of which opened in St. Augustine, Florida, several years ago. Now, there's a second Stone Climbing gym that is quickly approaching its grand opening in Jacksonville, Florida. Eric talks with host John Burgman about the development and the construction of both those gyms. The new Stone Climbing gym that's about to open in Jacksonville is a 16,000-square-foot ground-up build, with boulders and roped climbs.

The focus of this conversation with Eric is on the challenges (and opportunities) inherent in opening a gym in a place like Florida, which certainly has some gym climbing history but doesn't have an outdoor climbing heritage per se. John was also curious to get Eric's insights on the lessons he learned from opening that first gym…and how Eric is applying those lessons to the opening of a second gym. So, keep listening to hear how jotting something down on a barroom napkin was crucial in the creation of Eric's gyms in Florida.

General Topics Covered

• Introduction to Stone Climbing
• Climbing and Surfing Communities
• Origin Story of Stone Climbing
• The Bar Napkin Connection
• Ground-Up Construction vs. Retrofitting
• Second Location Development
• Creating Beautiful Spaces

Show Notes

• @stoneclimbingco

Thank you Approach and Strati for your support! And thank you Devin Dabney for your music!