In this Feb. 7, 2013 photo, a man walks past a shuttered New York Sports Club on Water St. in New York. Town Sports International Holdings Inc., the owner of New York Sports Club and Lucille Roberts filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday, Sept. 14, 2020, as gym operators struggle to keep afloat amid nationwide shutdowns. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
By Damian J. Troise
The company that runs New York Sports Club and Lucille Roberts gyms filed for bankruptcy protection with COVID-19, still prevalent in man parts of the U.S., gutting membership rolls at fitness companies nationwide.
Gold's Gym sought bankruptcy protection in May and 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide filed for bankruptcy in June. Many companies, including Planet Fitness, furloughed workers in order to conserve cash.
Town Sports International Holdings Inc., which also operates Washington Sports Club and Total Woman Gym and Spa, said Monday that it can no longer pay its debts.
The company lost $136 million during the first quarter this year, only a fraction of which included state- and city-mandated shutdowns of retail shops, gyms, salons, restaurants, and bars. By the end of the three-month reporting period, 95 percent of Town Sports' clubs had been closed.
Town Sports operates 185 clubs and serves 580,000 members, mostly in the Northeast.
Gyms have been allowed to reopen at a fraction of their capacity in some regions like the Northeast. Those who do go to gyms in New York City are required to wear a mask at all times and gyms can only operate at one-third capacity. Group fitness classes are still not permitted.
Yet with more than 33,000 COVID-19 related deaths in New York, most of them in New York City, thousands of one-time gymgoers have taken their routines outdoors, or to their own homes.
Home fitness company Peloton reported a 172 percent surge in revenue during its most recent quarter and it doubled its subscribers. Bike shops in New York, as well as most outdoor fitness gear sellers, have been largely cleared out.
Fresh off his unanimous appointment as interim CEO, Dax Dasilva shares his strategy for Lightspeed and why growth and profitability are his biggest focus.
Eddie Ghabour, co-founder and owner of KEY Advisors Wealth Management, explains why he’s investing in India, what could happen if inflation rises again, and the long-term ‘debt bubble’ looming.
The company behind Squishmallows says Build-A-Bear's new Skoosherz toys are a copy of their own plushies. Build-A-Bear filed their own suit basically responding, "No they're not!"
While tech employees worry about artificial intelligence taking over their jobs, Microsoft says Iran, North Korea, and more U.S. adversaries are beginning to use AI in cyber spying.
The self-proclaimed "only Post who worked at Kellogg" was a military veteran who fought in World War II before inventing everyone’s favorite fruit-filled breakfast ravioli.
Kevin Gordon, Senior Investment Research Manager at Charles Schwab, shares his thoughts on how investors can take advantage of the current bull market while keeping in mind the impacts of Fed policy and inflation.
Lab-created diamonds come with sparkling claims: that they are ethically made by machines running on renewable energy. But many don't live up to these claims or don't respond to questions about their electricity sources, and lab diamonds require a lot of electricity.
