The COVID-19 pandemic that caused a shut down across the nation (and much of the globe) has wreaked havoc on multiple industries. One industry in particular that has been absolutely ravished by the months of shutdown has been the fitness industry. Gyms everywhere have been shut down for months, which has caused many companies to take immediate action to mitigate their losses.
Earlier today, CNN published an article that stated 24 Hour Fitness will be the latest gym chain to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and they’re going to close 100 locations in 14 states.
After the latest closure of 100 of their locations, 24 Hour Fitness will be left with roughly 300 gyms across the nation — that’s nearly a 25% decrease for total gyms.
To highlight just how hard the pandemic has hit their chain, 24 Hour Fitness’ CEO Tony Ueber said in the CNN article, “If it were not for Covid-19 and its devastating effects, we would not be filing for Chapter 11. We expect to have substantial financing with a path to restructuring our balance sheet and operations to ensure a resilient future.”
With their filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, 24 Hour Fitness has said that they plan to internally restructure and allocate resources to improve current clubs, open new locations in the future, and to work on new products, per CNN’s article.
This news comes a little over a month after Gold’s Gym announced that they would be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closing 30 locations permanently.
With the boom of at-home fitness options and shaky gym opening timelines, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens long-term with large gym chains. The pandemic has certainly not been easy on this industry and it appears we’re not out the clear yet, so only time will tell as the industry continues to adapt and improvise with the resources they have at hand.
Feature image from @24hourfitness Instagram page.