A few weeks ago a sign appeared on the wall of the stretching area at the gym where I exercise -- if you can call it exercise -- a few times each week. It warned that if you lean on the wall, you just might fall through. That's because changes were in the works.

Today, those changes became apparent at Anytime Fitness in the Kenilworth Building, 2170 N. Farwell Ave. The aforementioned wall is gone, opening into a new space to the north that hosts the free weights and will soon have more equipment.

The stretching area has moved to the south end of the gym where the free weights once were (see photo above).

The gym is one of the nicest I've used -- despite the fact that it doesn't have a steam room or sauna, both of which I'd love -- because it's relatively small, pretty darn quiet and everyone in there -- the clientele looks mostly like college students, presumably drawing from the UWM dorm upstairs -- seems serious about exercising and getting out. It's not a social center, even though the vibe is friendly.

Manager Beckie Szmania says a few other changes are in the works, too.

"Our expansion should be done by the end of January," she notes. "The addition will bring us to 5,300 square feet! We'll expand our warm-up / stretching area, add some more cardio machines, and a bigger locker area."

It's a good sign, that while the economy is crumbling, one small East Side business is drawing enough new customers that it can continue to grow.

And now I have more room to stretch, too. Everyone wins.