Anti-aging clinic Serotonin Centers expanding to St. Pete with Sundial location
/Serotonin Centers will take over a 3,000-square-foot space previously occupied by Marilyn Monroe Glamour ROom at 125 2nd Avenue North in the Sundial shopping complex
The reimagining of the Sundial retail, dining, and entertainment complex in downtown St. Petersburg continues with the arrival of Serotonin Centers, a chain of health and wellness clinics focused on anti-aging therapies.
No opening date has been set, but local franchisees Trudy and Charles Fehlinger told St. Pete Rising that construction drawings are being finalized, and they hope to open in the redesigned 3,000 square foot space at 125 2nd Avenue North in December.
Serotonin Centers will take the place of the Marilyn Monroe Glamour Room at the Sundial, whose leasing activity has picked up speed in recent weeks, most notably with the announcement that Forbici Modern Italian, an acclaimed Tampa restaurant, will open a St. Pete location in the space formerly occupied by Locale Market. Forbici representatives said the eatery should be open by mid-2024.
As for Serotonin Centers, the company — founded in 2021 by nationally recognized fitness industry entrepreneur Eric Casaburi — offers services ranging from hormone restoration and weight control to red-light therapy.
Popular procedures such as Botox, CoolSculpting, IV therapy, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy are also provided, making Serotonin Centers a one-stop shop, essentially, for people who want to look and feel their best. Clients also benefit from the firm’s exercise and nutrition guidance and expertise.
Serotonin Centers is for anyone who’s interested in being their best self and living their best life for as long as possible, regardless of age, says owner Trudy Fehlinger | Serotonin Centers
Serotonin Centers opened its first location in Windermere, Florida, but has quickly expanded, with locations in Winter Park, Florida, and Colts Neck, New Jersey.
In a news release, Serotonin Centers announced an ambitious expansion of its franchising program, stating that it has signed multi-unit deals for 10 locations in Virginia, five in the Orlando market, five in New Jersey, and three in Nashville, Tennessee. In Florida, in addition to St. Pete, it’s developing new clinics in the greater Orlando area, South Tampa, Riverview, and Naples.
Sundial “was one of the first locations on our radar,” Trudy said. “It’s a beautiful space.”
Paradise Ventures acquired the Sundial complex for $27.5 million in early 2022 from Bill Edwards, with CEO Michael Connor saying at the time that he wanted to “breathe new life” into the 85,357-square-foot property.
Serotonin Centers offers a variety of membership models based on what services customers want, and free consultations are available for people who are new to longevity and anti-aging therapies and aren’t sure what would most benefit them | Serotonin Centers
The Fehlingers’ franchise territory ranges from Naples to Tampa, so they had a wide range of options to choose from for their first Serotonin Centers location, but they said they “fell in love with St. Pete and spending time there,” Trudy said. “As soon as we saw the Sundial and understood what Mike’s plans were, we got really excited. Sundial is the first lease we signed in our multi-unit deal with Serotonin Centers. It’s the perfect location for us.”
The Fehlingers hail from Pennsylvania but vacationed in Florida for many years before moving permanently to the Orlando area. They’re both lawyers by training but wanted to open their own health and wellness business in Florida so they could have more freedom and autonomy in their work lives and be more present for their two children.
“I just really wanted my own schedule,” Trudy said. “Your children are your number one priority, but it's hard to actually make that work when someone else is setting your professional schedule.”
She adds, “We had talked about a lot of different ideas and what it would look like to open a wellness center together. We just happened upon Serotonin, and we looked into it. We met with Eric Casaburi, and we immediately believed in what he's doing. We had such a good feeling about his vision for Serotonin, his sense of leadership. He’s incredibly passionate about wellness, about anti-aging, about longevity, about using science and technology to allow people the greatest opportunity to extend their life, not just in years, but in in quality of years.”
CoolSculpting is a cosmetic treatment that freezes excess fat to remove it from stubborn areas. CoolSculpting is a non-invasive procedure, meaning it does not involve cuts, anesthesia, or instruments entering the body | Serotonin Centers
Serotonin Centers, Trudy added, ticked all the boxes in terms of what she and her husband were looking for in a business in the health and wellness space.
“It combines so many different components of wellness and anti-aging under one roof — that's what made it so appealing to us,” she said. “It’s a very unique business model.”
Serotonin Centers offers a variety of membership models based on what services customers want, and free consultations are available for people who are new to longevity and anti-aging therapies and aren’t sure what would most benefit them. The clinics also sell a line of custom-formulated nutraceuticals, or dietary supplements, intended to help customers achieve a specific goal.
“There are 10 different categories of membership at this point, and it's growing,” Trudy said. “What Eric's doing is he's trying to optimize these programs for what he's seeing as desired by clients and being flexible enough to modify the programs to meet the needs of the client.”
Serotonin Centers offers IV Therapy, a medical technique that administers fluids, medications, and nutrients directly into a person's veins | Serotonin Centers
Serotonin Centers, Trudy added, is for anyone who’s interested in being their best self and living their best life for as long as possible, regardless of age.
“It used to be that anti-aging services were used primarily by people who were 40 years, 50 years, 60 years old,” she said. “Now, we're seeing in the marketplace that we have a lot of 20-somethings and 30-somethings who are high users of anti-aging services, because the earlier you start the anti-aging process, the easier it is to maintain yourself in the long run. Our demographic is anyone who's interested in taking physical and aesthetic care of themselves.”
For more information and updates, follow Serotonin Centers on Instagram.
