Are Gyms Closing In Your Area?

[goback2013]

I work out in my barn gym and at work..so, I don’t go to a gym really..I haven’t noticed gym closures in the Houston area but I have noticed a shit load of gyms changing ownerships and names

a barn in harris county ? i can see that being the case in say montgomery or ft bend.. but not harris. unless your in some swamp land on the east side.

 

[fisther69]

a barn in harris county ? i can see that being the case in say montgomery or ft bend.. but not harris. unless your in some swamp land on the east side.

I am NOT in Harris county..just work there and by nature of my job spend all my time there..

 

[goback2013]

I am NOT in Harris county..just work there and by nature of my job spend all my time there..

Right. Harris county seems to be built out. No more land. Everything is being built west and north. I predict development will expand all the way to Bryan/college-station within the next 20-30yrs. With BCS being included as part of the metro area. It's really crazy how fast things are moving.

 

[Hyperemia]

you're in the dallas metro area ?

I am not.

 

[Hyperemia]

I am not. I was referencing the title of the post.

 

[Brominoacids]

Right. Harris county seems to be built out. No more land. Everything is being built west and north. I predict development will expand all the way to Bryan/college-station within the next 20-30yrs. With BCS being included as part of the metro area. It's really crazy how fast things are moving.

Went back to college station recently and it looks so different than 10 years ago

 

[Brock456]

The question is about gyms in my area, so it absolutely is true. I have no idea what’s going on where you live…

Couldn’t say about the smaller / independent gyms but the major chains like 24 etc havnt gone anywhere.

you said the major chains like 24 aren’t going anywhere.

They are.

 

[mitochondria]

im more surprised about how many memberships you currenlty have

 

[goback2013]

Went back to college station recently and it looks so different than 10 years ago

Yep. College station has changed in many ways. Including ideology. Use to be the the land of Bush. Now it's the land of sniffy. Although there is no difference in the two.
Just an observation. Not a comment meant for further discussion.

 

[goback2013]

im more surprised about how many memberships you currenlty have

YouTube and IG influencer culture is driving this.

 

[Hyperemia]

you said the major chains like 24 aren’t going anywhere.

They are.

In my area, like the title was asking…

 

[goback2013]

In my area, like the title was asking…

I see numerous 24s closing in my area. But they are being replaced, same building, with a mom and pop owned gym. So the gym business seems to be profitable, just makes sense for 24 to close these locations. So net net number of gyms stay the same or might be increasing. Just big chain guys might be consolidating metro locations.

 

[Hyperemia]

I see numerous 24s closing in my area. But they are being replaced, same building, with a mom and pop owned gym. So the gym business seems to be profitable, just makes sense for 24 to close these locations. So net net number of gyms stay the same or might be increasing. Just big chain guys might be consolidating metro locations.

Yeah I’m sure all areas are different. I’m assuming leasing costs are probably a big factor like Daniel mentioned or maybe 24 and the likes are just offloading unprofitable locations.

Are the mom and pops buying out all the equipment with the space as well? If not, I wonder where those go and if they be purchased at a discount.

I use to go to an independently owned gym but I travel often enough to where I need a membership that I can use easily when I’m away and can’t justify the cost of multiple memberships since the gym I go to is a 2 minute drive and has everything I need.

 

[danieltx]

I see numerous 24s closing in my area. But they are being replaced, same building, with a mom and pop owned gym. So the gym business seems to be profitable, just makes sense for 24 to close these locations. So net net number of gyms stay the same or might be increasing. Just big chain guys might be consolidating metro locations.

Yeah I’m sure all areas are different. I’m assuming leasing costs are probably a big factor like Daniel mentioned or maybe 24 and the likes are just offloading unprofitable locations.

Are the mom and pops buying out all the equipment with the space as well? If not, I wonder where those go and if they be purchased at a discount.

I use to go to an independently owned gym but I travel often enough to where I need a membership that I can use easily when I’m away and can’t justify the cost of multiple memberships since the gym I go to is a 2 minute drive and has everything I need.

That's definitely not happening in Dallas and the suburbs - we have multiple 24 and LA locations sitting empty, some have been for years.

 

[goback2013]

That's definitely not happening in Dallas and the suburbs - we have multiple 24 and LA locations sitting empty, some have been for years.

All across metro Dallas ? Not including FT worth.
I was just in Dallas. East Dallas looked like a bomb hit it. Plenty of boarded up commercial properties. South east Dallas.. like blach springs that area seemed to be not as popping as say anywhere in north Dallas or Colin county.

 

[danieltx]

All across metro Dallas ? Not including FT worth.
I was just in Dallas. East Dallas looked like a bomb hit it. Plenty of boarded up commercial properties. South east Dallas.. like blach springs that area seemed to be not as popping as say anywhere in north Dallas or Colin county.

Across Dallas and the norther half of the suburbs.

East Dallas has had a lot of revitalization the last few year but it's still a work in progress. Anything in South Dallas tend to be pretty bad, always been like that. North Dallas and Collin County is definitely where the action is.

 

[Hyperemia]

That's definitely not happening in Dallas and the suburbs - we have multiple 24 and LA locations sitting empty, some have been for years.

Is this a post Covid thing or has this been going on longer that?

Edit: Nevermind, you mentioned since 2020. At the airport and trying to do much at once on my phone.

 

[cage99]

Are the mom and pops buying out all the equipment with the space as well? If not, I wonder where those go and if they be purchased at a discount.

I dunno what they’ll do where you’re located, but I’ve tried this several times locally in NO. Probably tried 6 times visiting public gyms that suffered heavy hurricane damage trying to snag discounts on equipment. They’d only go down like 15%…. Man fuck that cause I know god damn well they received a nice chunk from insurance for the equipment and trying to cash in. The days of getting cheap equipment seems to be loooong gone. Thanks Covid!

Hell, I got a shit ton of plates. Guessing around 5-6K in pounds. Paid like .15¢-.30¢ per pound. Now they want $1-$2 per pound. That’s just ridiculous!!!!! Best deal I ever found was off Craigslist; bought 300lb Olympic plate set for $50. I gave up on buying from the commercial gyms with my past experiences.

Cage

 

[buck]

One gym locally closed a Fitness 19. But the manager at an LA Fitness told me their membership if higher then precovid. And one La Fitness has a lease up for grabs locally and they want the owner to do some remodeling which may cause a closure but probably not. Leases can be a driving factor in a gym closing.

 

[danieltx]

An update to this situation.

I'm friendly with the general manager of my Gold's that's closing. They were transferring our memberships to Texas Family Fitness but I (and many others) didn't want that because TFF sucks - it's not a gym for serious lifters, has no scale because they're into body positivity, has this weird blue nightclub lighting in the locker room, and is stocked with Precor and Matrix machines that just don't work well for my physiology. They tried to get 24 Hour Fitness to buy the memberships but they didn't make a good offer.

The GM told me there's another Gold's about 20 minutes away and if I liked it he'd transfer me there. I checked it out Saturday and was really impressed. It's one of the new clubs built since the German company bought Gold's a few years ago and is super nice - hardwood laminates and faux brick in the locker room, huge lobby with oversized chairs / tables / couches, and fully equipped with Gym80 equipment which I'd never used before. They also have a belt squat, pendulum squat, and a few other things I haven't used.

The best part was that the walls of the free weight area are covered with pictures of Arnold, Gold's Venice, and all the Golden Era guys. It's a much smaller gym than I'm used to but a good atmosphere and good equipment and I'm looking forward to training there.