SALEM — With only minutes left on the clock last New Year’s Eve, Swampscott couple Eddie and Carley Alvarez decided to take the plunge and go after a dream they’d harbored for years: owning and operating their own boxing studio on the North Shore.
Eleven months later — after months of preparation and countless setbacks thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic — the pair is thrilled to finally open their new spot at 17 Canal Street in Salem.
Aptly named Alvarez Family Boxing, they say the gym is meant to provide a supportive, family-friendly space for workouts.
“It’s a smaller, intimate space and allows for more of a private experience,” said Carley, a Health Coach with San Francisco company Hinge Health. “Because this is a family business, we hope people feel as though they’re stepping into an extension of our home.”
Despite the fact both Carley and Eddie have been heavily involved in the fitness community for more than a decade, the pair’s hectic full-time jobs, coupled with the demands of caring for their now 3-year-old daughter, Misty, meant the idea of owning their own business had always felt out of reach.
When the young family made the move from Somerville to Swampscott two years ago, however, they began to feel it was time to revisit their plan.
“At the end of last year, I said, ‘it’s time,’” Eddie explained. “I said, ‘if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this with my family — just the three of us putting down our time and personal expenses to go after the dream instead of just sitting back.’”
Three months later, the Alvarezes had just signed the lease to the 1,400-square-foot studio space in Salem when the global public health crisis swept through the East Coast, causing businesses across the North Shore and beyond to shutter and leaving small businesses owners everywhere anxious about an uncertain economic future.
While the situation may have spelled disaster for others in the same position, the Alvarez family had different plans.
“When COVID kicked in, it was more of a double-down,” Eddie said with a laugh. “(We said) ‘2020’s going to break some people. We’re going to break 2020.’”
Staying true to their word, the pair was finally able to open the doors to their new gym earlier this month — something both Carley and Eddie said has been an incredible feeling.
“It’s the best year of our lives,” said Eddie, a former professional boxing trainer and current database administrator for the nonprofit organization Union of Concerned Scientists. “As crazy as it sounds to some people, it’s been a great experience and it just keeps getting better.”
Alvarez Family Boxing now offers private one-on-one and family boxing sessions, as well as small group boxing sessions for up to four people.
Instead of yearly or monthly memberships, the couple say they offer their services in weeks-long packages so that customers with busy schedules aren’t automatically locked in to long plans.
“We’re hoping these options give people a healthy and safe way to work out together with family and friends,” Carley said, adding that once the gym is fully up and running, the couple hopes to partner with local organizations to help mentor at-risk youth through boxing.
“It’s a small boxing studio, but part of what we want to do is integrate into the community and help the community,” Carley said. “We wanted to open a gym that was a safe space where really anybody could come work out.”
Hourmat Abdul Rauf, owner of BuildAR Group and One America Capital in Lynn, is a former boxing student of Eddie’s and one of the family’s biggest champions.
“I’m extremely happy to see what the Alvarez Family is doing for the city of Salem,” he said. “(They) love to give back to the community and I’m confident this boxing gym will further contribute to the growth and wellbeing of people and communities in Salem. (There’s no doubt) that the Alvarez Family Boxing Club will be successful and leave a positive impact on people of all ages, especially the youth.”
As for the Alvarezes, they say they’re already looking forward to a bright future.
“It’s like seeing that rainbow after that heavy, heavy storm,” Eddie said. “It’s fulfilling more than anything.”
Carley added: “It feels like a dream.”
