Le Club
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Specs: Le Club, a bouldering-focused climbing facility in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, opened on June 28th and is owned by couple Marianne Girard and Eric Meng. Girard and Meng have over a decade of experience in fashion and content creation and chose to follow their “passion for sports and lifestyles by relocating to Cambodia and building a business rooted in what inspires us both,” Meng told CBJ. He described their journey to opening the facility as “deeply personal.” Meng’s parents are from Phnom Penh and, after the tragic Khmer Rouge genocide in the late 1970s, they found refuge by relocating to France, where Meng was born and raised. Now, Meng is “dedicated to helping Cambodia thrive by promoting sports as a powerful tool for education, empowerment and development,” shared Girard, who co-founded Le Club with a community-focused mindset as well. According to Meng, Girard has “always loved bringing people together”—whether that be through food, conversations or experiences—and dreamed of using her passion “for hospitality and community” to “[create] a space where sports, connection and warmth come together.”
Meng and Girard said there have been limited indoor climbing options in Phnom Penh, despite indoor and outdoor climbing making “a big leap” in the country in the last nine years. “We thought the timing was perfect to open a new facility,” they continued, “also because Khmer people are now more and more open to new activities and entertainment.” The pair felt the Phnom Penh area, in particular, would be a fitting place for Le Club, since Meng wanted to reconnect with his roots in his “parents’ city” while “[participating] in Cambodia’s progress,” he said. They also found the city—which Meng described as “dynamic” and in a state of “permanent change”—to be economically and socially ready for the bouldering hub they had in mind, so the building search began.
Le Club was constructed in a former nightclub that had been shut down for a couple of years and required a heavy makeover from the team. “When we visited the place,” Girard and Meng said, “it was not easy to estimate the cost of renovation and foresee the building as a climbing gym.” However, they did not have the budget or investors to build a facility from the ground up, “so the only option was to change an existing building’s purpose,” they explained. The building did fortunately come with parking spaces, high ceilings in the main area, room for amenities, and a rooftop. Additionally, the spot is very centrally located: “When you type Phnom Penh on Google maps, you land exactly six minutes (by walking) away from our gym,” they noted.
Le Club features 400 square meters (4,306 square feet) of climbing wall surface, with walls reaching 4.9 meters (16 feet). Climbing amenities at the facility include an open-air section of the gym, a competition wall, a custom woody, a Moon Board and campus rungs. There is also a climbing playground for kids in “a safe, fun and colorful space designed to spark curiosity, build confidence and encourage movement through play,” Le Club’s website details. On the rooftop is a café with vegetarian, vegan and meat options, as well as fresh pastries baked each morning. Additionally, Le Club has a corner shop with chalk, brushes, shoes and merch, and the gym offers classes, birthday parties, corporate team building events and other gatherings. “We designed the space to create a nice balance between a climbing and community space,” the owners added.
Walls: EP Climbing; Owner/Contractor
Flooring: Owner/Contractor
CRM Software: BETA
Website: www.leclubphnompenh.com
Instagram: @LeClub_PhnomPenh
In Their Words: “Communication is key. We hit 1,200 Instagram followers before we opened. This allowed us to open and have customers right away. We are going to make a profit from the start. All this is thanks to good communication.” – Marianne Girard and Eric Meng, Founders and Owners of Le Club
