LEWISTON — A local flower shop owner and his former personal trainer have teamed up to start a new fitness center.

Mike Blais and Michelle Twitchell of Turner are leasing the space at Northwood Park Shopping Center, last inhabited by Fitness World. That gym shut down earlier this year. The new gym isn’t affiliated in any way with the former gym.

Blais and Twitchell leased the space and bought the gym equipment from Marden’s Realty, the owners of Marden’s Surplus and Salvage, located next door.

Blais, who was a member at the former gym, said he hoped to renew friendships he made there.

“There’s a sense of community in any gym and I missed the people I was there with,” he said.

Blais is owner of Blais Flowers and Garden Center on Webster Street, a family business dating back to 1949. He took over that business from his father in 1995.

“I believe in flowers,” he said. “I always have.” He also believes in exercise, he said. He puts his money behind the things in which he believes, he said.

He feels strongly about fitness since he shed 30 pounds two years ago with the help of exercise, nutrition and Twitchell, he said. She worked as his personal trainer and nutritionist.

Since then, he’s become an avid bicyclist, participating in the annual Trek Across Maine events. Many cyclists who attend that event worked out on the spinning machines in the former gym at that location, he said.

Twitchell, who earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise sports science at the University of North Carolina,  minored in nutrition. She worked at Duke University’s wellness program Center for Living. She has been in the fitness and weight-loss business for 12 years, eight of those in the local area.

The new gym, which hasn’t been named yet, is expected to open in January or February, she said. It is expected to be a full-service gym, offering a wide range of equipment, including spinning, treadmills and elliptical machines, as well as free weights. Workout programs will include aerobics classes, she said. Child care will be available.

Blais said he and Twitchell are excited about the partnership, which was a “perfect fit,” he said.

“I’m gonna take care of the business; she’s gonna take care of the bodies.”

For more info go to: www.resultsfitnessandweightloss.com

A new fitness center at the former Fitness World behind Marden’s in Lewiston will open soon. Mike Blais and Michelle Twitchell of Turner are leasing the space at Northwood Park Shopping Center on Main Street.