Stretch Zone will open its second local spot in April near the old Racquet Club of Memphis site in East Memphis, according to franchisee Jonathan Boyd.

Boyd said the Germantown location, which opened in January 2020 at 2037 Exeter Road, is No. 1 in sales across the entire company.

Stretch Zone is an "assisted stretch" business, with an aim of increasing flexibility. It targets both serious athletes and those with mobility issues.

Clients are put into categories, which influences location sites, Boyd said.

"If somebody is going to spend a couple hundred dollars a month on stretching, usually they're affluent. Or, they just really need it to alleviate pain, or they're an elite athlete. So, we have buckets of clients. But the most prevalent type of client is that they are affluent, so we are going into the affluent areas — Germantown, East Memphis. That makes sense," he said.

Next up, they plan to stretch into the Cincinnati, Ohio, area, which has suburbs similar to Germantown, Boyd said.

"The brand just caught fire," he said. "It's moving up from the South and most of the Southern cities are taken. So, we're moving with the brand north. We've committed to open three stores in Cincinnati, starting with the second half of this year."

The opening of the East Memphis location was pushed back several months due to COVID-19. They are also taking extra steps to assure both clients and staff remain safe — sanitation stations, mask-wearing, temperatures taken.

Boyd became interested in the business after he tried it himself.

"The pitch is basically, Just get on the table," he said. "When somebody said, Stretch Zone to me, I was like, Stretch Zone? What? Why can't I just stretch myself? You should stretch yourself every day, kind of like you should brush your teeth every day. You go to the dentist to get that deep cleaning of your teeth and polishing and it's just a different experience than brushing your teeth yourself. It's kind of the same thing with assisted stretch. You get on the table and people get it."

A Florida-based company, Stretch Zone has 112 locations across 21 states, according to its website. On Jan. 8, the company announced that NFL quarterback Drew Brees had joined its board of directors. Brees will also serve as a Stretch Zone ambassador and franchisee partner.

Representing Stretch Zone in the Memphis area and Ohio are Barry Maynard and Frank Dyer of Gill Properties.