K2 Roots & Vitality Wellness Club Establishing ‘One-Stop Health Shop’ In Downtown State College

Happy Valley has something for just about everyone. For a town home to Central Pennsylvanian locals, thousands of students from near and far, world-class athletes, and more, a few folks believed it was missing a social wellness facility focused on rejuvenation and relaxation.

Nittany Lion Wrestling Club members and Olympians David Taylor and Kyle Dake observed the gap in State College’s health offerings and took matters into their own hands.

Taylor, a two-time Penn State wrestling national champion and two-time Hodge Trophy winner, owns juicery K2 Roots, formerly located on Fraser Street, which provides downtown State College with healthy food and drink options for community members and athletes alike. Now, after nearly seven years operating K2 Roots while integrating heavy travel to first-rate wellness facilities, Taylor and Dake joined forces to bring Vitality Wellness Club to Happy Valley.

Taylor closed K2 Roots’ original Fraser Street location and its new location, in collaboration with the opening of Vitality Wellness Club, held its soft opening to the public last week.

While K2 Roots’ new location will offer an expanded menu with familiar favorites featuring salads, sandwiches, paninis, juice, and Rothrock coffee, Vitality Wellness Club will indulge State College with health offerings like saunas, hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy, cold plunges, Kaqun water therapy, red light therapy, compression, lymphatic drainage therapy, and a cycling boutique.

“We’re not trying to replace anything medical, but [Taylor and Dake] are superhuman,” Vitality Wellness Club sales and marketing specialist Amanda Werner said. “They just believe in the power of ancient, natural medicine.”

The concept of Vitality Wellness Club was inspired by Remedy Place in New York City, which aims to enhance health and wellness practices through human connection and self-care. While spending time at Remedy Place, Taylor and Dake decided to create their own spin on the club a little closer to home.

K2 Roots and Vitality Wellness Club is housed in the former location of Bar Bleu on South Garner Street and will serve as a “one-stop health shop” with all of K2 Roots’ operations upstairs and space for relaxation and regeneration downstairs facilitated by Vitality Wellness Club.

The wellness club’s custom sauna allows users to experience the immune system, cardiovascular, and mental health benefits of heat exposure between 170° and 180° in a group or private session along with cold dip water immersion at 50° to aid stress, inflammation, and boost energy levels.

Kaqun water therapy, or cocoon water therapy, is a 50-minute bath that intentionally delivers oxygen and relaxation to cells while improving mitochondrial production and skin health. Vitality Wellness Club’s Kaqun water therapy machine is just the third cocoon bath in the United States, following New York and Las Vegas, while enhancing the State College health scene.

In addition to other services like hyperbaric chamber therapy and a lymphatic drainage suit, Vitality Wellness Club is seeking all walks of life to indulge in its amenities — from Penn Staters to IRONMAN participants.

“Obviously, we want college students,” Werner said. “You guys are already downtown, and you’re going to be coming into K2 Roots for sure. What other coffee shop is going to be open until 9 o’clock? We just want it to be a really cool hangout spot for [college students] and I feel like the college age group has gotten really healthy and focused on health.”

And as the IRONMAN 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley gears up to take over State College this weekend, the wellness club will provide free cold plunges to those who show their race bibs after the conclusion of the event.

K2 Roots and Vitality Wellness Club will host its grand opening during Arts Fest, July 11 to 14, while hosting temporary hours daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. until then. All Vitality Wellness Club services can be utilized in a single, optimized session or as daily and monthly packages. The club’s boutique cycle studio will begin operations after its grand opening as it seeks to become one of the “hottest spots in town.”

“[Taylor and Dake’s] whole world is living healthy,” Werner said. “We’re hoping to be a good influence and instead of kids going out all the time and spending 100 bucks on the bar tab, they’ll come and hang out with us here for an afternoon. We want to be really positive and healthy.”