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Newark native Kathy Anderson opened Delaware’s first ever StretchLab location in Pike Creek last November.
After a career in retail banking, Newark native Kathy Anderson knew her retirement would focus on something opposite: health and wellness. She started looking at franchise opportunities and came across StretchLab, an assisted-stretching boutique that complements other fitness regimens. Last November, she opened the first location in Delaware.
“Assisted stretching is the key to better flexibility and mobility so you can do all the things you love with better movement,” Anderson explains, adding that routines are customized. It’s beneficial for all ages and sizes—StretchLab Pike Creek’s youngest client was an 8-year-old gymnast, while its oldest are well into their 70s.
“We have runners, martial artists and people who are at the gym all the time, but we also have people who live a quite sedentary life,” Anderson says.
StretchLab’s seven trained “flexologists”—including a physical therapist, massage therapist, personal trainers and corrective exercise specialists—perform an initial evaluation to identify inefficiencies in four categories: mobility, activation, posture and symmetry.
Customized programs range from a 25-minute stretch concentrating on the current needs to a 50-minute deep-stretch addressing all major muscle groups. Anderson recommends two visits per week; results can be felt immediately, but physiological results typically take six to 12 weeks.
She hopes to soon partner with doctors, physical therapy clinics and high school athletic directors. “We’re looking forward to helping our neighbors move, feel and live better,” she says.
