The former grocery store at Three Oaks Town Center will be divided between Palm City Brewing and W.O.L.F. Gyms. The nearly 37,000-square-foot space has been vacant since Universal Supermarket closed.
Sheldon Zoldan
A long-vacant grocery store will become home to beer and bodybuilding.
The nearly 37,000-square-foot store at Three Oaks Town Center in south Fort Myers is being split between Palm City Brewing and W.O.L.F. Gyms.
The fitness center is scheduled to open in late fall. Palm City Brewing hopes to open sometime in 2027.
The grocery store was built in 1993 and was home to several grocery chains over the decades, including Winn-Dixie and Sweetbay. The sign for Universal Supermarkets, the last grocer to occupy the space, remains on the shopping center’s sign.
The building anchors a shopping center that is home to a Mexican restaurant, ice cream and liquor stores, a hair salon and a smoke shop. Coffee Rush, a drive-thru coffee shop, is being built at the entrance. A build-to-suit site is available in the southeast section of the plaza, according to TCG, the real estate firm marketing the property.
The Three Oaks Town Center sign still displays Universal Supermarket, the last grocer to occupy the nearly 37,000-square-foot space that will be divided between Palm City Brewing and W.O.L.F. Gyms.
Sheldon Zoldan
Palm City Brewing
Ryan Bowen and his wife, Marianne, started the brewery nine years ago after turning his 10-year-old hobby into a vocation. They’ve outgrown their location, hidden in the bowels of Alico Commercial Park off Alico Road.
The brewery will be about a football field’s distance from busy Three Oaks Parkway.
“One of the biggest things for us was the location. I mean, it’s right on Three Oaks Parkway. It’s visible. The sign is going to be right on Three Oaks Parkway,” Bowen said.
The brewery’s 16,000 square feet will be 10,000 square feet larger than its current location. The larger space will allow Palm City to increase production, keep more inventory, add more flavors and eventually install a bigger brewing system, Bowen said.
“And then from a hospitality standpoint, it’s going to be a big game changer for us. The tasting room is going to be fairly large, around 9,000 square feet, compared to what we have now,” he said.
The brewery will be able to have a private room for parties, something customers have been asking for. Palm City also will have food on-site and an outdoor seating area, something the current location doesn’t have.
The site has another advantage. The store is only a shell because everything has been removed except the walls, allowing the Bowens to put their own spin on it.
“We can make it how we want it to look, which was very enticing,” Bowen said.
Bowen wouldn’t disclose the cost of the project.
Three Oaks Town Center in south Fort Myers is home to restaurants, shops and other businesses. Palm City Brewing and W.O.L.F. Gyms are joining the center as new tenants.
Sheldon Zoldan
W.O.L.F. Fitness Gyms
Owner Dillon Knoff is a 21-year-old Florida Gulf Coast University graduate. He started working out at W.O.L.F. as a teenager growing up in New Jersey and looked forward to going to the gym when he returned home during summers and holidays while attending college.
“I love coming home to go to the gym here, and that was when the idea hit me,” he said. “I know the owner of the whole franchise. I could inquire with him and see what he would think about a W.O.L.F. Fitness here, and I kind of got the ball rolling and it just happened from there.”
W.O.L.F., according to its website, opened in New Jersey in 2018 and began offering franchises in 2023. It has 13 locations, with six more opening this year, including Knoff’s in the shopping center and one on Lee Boulevard in Lehigh Acres.
Knoff signed an 11-year lease. He said the price tag will be a “multiseven-figure project.”
The franchise fee ranges from $35,000 to $50,000, according to Entrepreneur. The royalty fee is 7%, with an additional 1% going toward advertising.
Knoff picked the shopping center because of its location. It’s near FGCU, and he likes the Estero area. The gym will be not far from several other fitness centers, but Knoff said it will be different because it emphasizes community.
“It’s not just a place to come work out,” he said. “It’s very welcoming. It’s a place that’s welcoming for everybody of all shapes and kinds.”
The gym will have a mix of free weights and machines. Knoff called it a blend of old-school equipment from brands, such as Nautilus and Cybex and newer brands, including W.O.L.F.’s Garmr.
Knoff hasn’t announced pricing for the Three Oaks location, but the Lehigh Acres location, previously Max’d Out Fitness Center, is offering pre-opening deals. The first 100 members to sign up will pay $39.99 a month for life. Phase 2 members will pay $49.99 a month for life. The standard rate will be $59.99 a month.