At 6700 Woodlands Parkway, the posted class schedule starts with a 5 a.m. Strong-er HIIT session on the indoor turf of the HIITZone. That's the same building where Sterling Ridge used to buy milk and bread. Crunch Fitness has replaced the old Kroger at Unit 600. The club lists its hours as "Open 24/7," so the old grocery box no longer has a closing time.
For most of the center's life, people came by on a weekly cycle. You stopped for groceries, maybe picked up a prescription, and went home. A gym brings people in on a daily cycle, often more than once a day, at hours the old store never kept. Look at what is open around the Crunch, what is still empty beside it, and where the grocery run went, and the center makes more sense as a gym-anchored center than as a grocery center with a hole in it.
The Box Was Cut in Two
Kroger did not hand its whole footprint to one new tenant. Community Impact reported in February 2025 that the Sterling Ridge store would close, with May 6, 2025 given as its last day. Today, the property's leasing site from Regency Centers shows the old anchor split into two units.
| Unit | Tenant | Square feet |
|---|---|---|
| 0016B | Crunch Fitness | 35,802 |
| 0016A | Available | 30,729 |
| 0001 | CVS, for scale | 11,347 |
Crunch holds a little over half of the two units. The open half is about 30,700 square feet, nearly three times the size of the CVS, which is the center's next-largest tenant. So the gym is now the anchor, and the center still has a second anchor-sized space waiting to be filled.
Why the New Anchor Is a Gym
This was a choice, and the people leasing the center have said so publicly. In an October 2025 report on village centers, Community Impact quoted Regency senior leasing agent Rip Reynolds on what replaces a grocer:
"In The Woodlands, we see opportunities beyond traditional grocers, including fitness, medical and service-driven uses that still draw consistent traffic and support neighboring retailers."
The same article quotes Craig Eissler, vice chair of The Woodlands Township board, saying the pandemic changed consumer habits and that delivery services now let people shop at any grocery store they like from home.
A workout has to happen in person, and a 24/7 club takes those visits at any hour. That is the "consistent traffic" Reynolds described, and few uses that fit in a 35,000-square-foot box produce it as reliably as a gym.
What the Building Holds Now
According to a May 8, 2026 announcement, Crunch The Woodlands is a $5 million build in the company's "Crunch 3.0" design. It is run by the franchisee The Undefeated Tribe. The announcement listed:
- Strength and functional training areas, plus Olympic lifting platforms
- A HIITZone with indoor turf and advanced HIIT classes
- A hot yoga studio, Ride cycling classes and TRX
- A group fitness studio
- HydroMassage beds and red light therapy
- Locker rooms with showers and a sauna
- Kids Crunch babysitting
Woodlands Mommy reported in August that the location's plans also included a dedicated Crunch Reform Pilates studio, and that Kids Crunch babysitting takes children ages 1 to 12.
The building is open around the clock, but the childcare room has its own schedule, and parents should plan around it:
- Monday through Friday: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., then 4 to 8 p.m.
- Saturday: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Sunday: 1 to 4 p.m.
Those hours cover the morning after school drop-off and the evening after work, with a break in the middle of the afternoon. A parent visit to the center now tends to fall into one of those two blocks.
The Storefronts That Fit Around a Workout
When Reynolds said "support neighboring retailers," he meant the tenants that already ring the parking lot. Regency's current roster shows how much of Sterling Ridge Village Center already fits the hour before or after a class.
Refuel: CAVA, Perry's Grille, Beef Shabu, Brothers Pizza Express, Sweet Cups and Marble Slab, with Wendy's and McDonald's on the outparcels.
Recover: Beem Light Sauna, Boss Chiropractic & Rehabilitation, Topcoat Nail Boutique, L'Avantage Salon, Great Clips and Sport Clips.
Errands: CVS, The UPS Store, Hallmark, Village Vet and Natural Pawz for the dog, plus Rooster Ridge Car Care and Jiffy Lube if the car needs work while you train.
Evening: Cellar 24, the wine bar, for after the last class.
Many of these businesses already matched a fitness crowd before the gym opened. A grocery anchor sent people to the CVS and the UPS Store on the way to the checkout line. A gym sends them to CAVA after a 6 p.m. Ride class, to a sauna session the next morning, or to Marble Slab with a child who just got out of Kids Crunch.
Where the Grocery Run Went
There is still no grocery store in the center, so the weekly shop happens somewhere else. One full-service option nearby is the Indian Springs H-E-B at 10777 Kuykendahl Road, with produce, meat, bakery, dairy and pantry departments. Last fall's Community Impact reporting also pointed out that H-E-B locations nearby made the empty village-center spaces less attractive for another H-E-B, which helps explain why the old box went to a gym rather than another grocer.
The other new option opened this fall in a different village. The Woodlands Record reported that Sprouts Farmers Market opened its 500th store on Sept. 12 at 4775 W. Panther Creek Drive, filling the grocery anchor Panther Creek had been without since Randalls closed in 2020. That gives Sterling Ridge households a second full grocery choice in the Woodlands Parkway area, alongside the H-E-B on Kuykendahl.
The Other Half of the Old Kroger
The 30,729-square-foot unit next to Crunch is the part of this story still to come. On Oct. 7, the Township's Development Standards Committee had a Crunch request on its agenda to bring two monument signs at 6700 Woodlands Parkway in line with the building sign. The agenda also included a separate item adding a new attached monument sign with an internally lit panel for a proposed future tenant, according to The Woodlands Record's preview of the meeting.
Reynolds named fitness, medical and service uses as the kinds of tenants Regency sees working in Woodlands village centers. Crunch was the first of those to arrive. Whatever lights up the new sign panel will determine whether the second half of the old Kroger adds another reason to stop by every day or a once-a-week one. Village association meetings are one place to follow what happens. The Sterling Ridge Village Association meets Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. at 6620 Woodlands Parkway.
If you own in Sterling Ridge and want to know how the Crunch opening and the unit still for lease next door fit into your home's story, The Ferester Team is glad to walk through it with you. Book an appointment and we'll start with the comparable sales on your street.
