Last year was a bumpy year for gyms and fitness studios in the Bay Area. Dean Eriksen, co-owner of FitLocalFit, a small network of gyms in San Francisco, describes this as “a continuous flow of operational pivots and the overall challenge to reach this point.” ..
The rapidly prevailing variant of Omicron is one in the industry with yet another curveball when people make a list of New Year’s aspirations and promise to go to the gym more regularly. Ready to be one of the busiest times of the year.
“It feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel, except that the trend is starting to recede a bit,” says Eriksen. “I feel optimistic, but I’m also a little worried about the current direction.”
There are eight gyms around the Bay Area, six of which are in San Francisco, Fitness SF’s vice president, Don Dickerson, in light of the news that masks will be needed again in the gym settings, especially in the light of Wednesday’s news. The counties of San Francisco, Alameda, Marin and Contra Costa were not very optimistic.
“This year was a cruel year. The constant change of members was turbulent,” says Dickerson. “January wanted to be back at our feet.” Now that’s unlikely.
He says membership is “a small part” of the pre-pandemic number. This is also thanks to the empty Downtown Core, where the group’s three gyms are located. Dickerson hopes to lose even more on the latest Maskman date. “20% of our member base doesn’t work with masks,” he says. “These members will freeze soon.”
Gyms and fitness studios in other bay areas are also expected to decline by 20% to 25%.
Nationally, 27% of gyms that opened in 2019 were completely closed by the summer of 2021, according to IHRSA, a global health and fitness association.
“We’re optimistic about the end of 2021. We’re looking forward to the new year 2022, but thanks to Omicron, everything is in the air at this point.” Says Dave Karaka in collaboration with. -Owner of MX3 Fitness and spokesperson for the San Francisco Independent Fitness Coalition. “You just don’t know what will happen, and I think Omicron has shown that anything can happen.”
He hopes that the latest mission in San Francisco, which expires on February 1, 2022, will not cause too much wear, and that members may be able to push it through once the end date is visible. I’m out. “I think it’s important for people to remember that these are the small businesses we’re talking about.”
Despite the turmoil of the last few years, those who have achieved it so far are trying to remain optimistic.
Tracey Sylvester, owner of EHS Pilates, calls last year a “whirlwind” with “many outages and starts,” but says the city’s fitness industry is getting stronger in some ways. “Initially, we were isolated as a small group and received little attention to support. We had to fight audibly because we didn’t have a big advocacy group. A year of fighting.
“I think we’re on the other side. I think we’re united as an industry. I think we’re talking now.”
In addition, Sylvester says residents and policy makers believe they have a new understanding of how important these projects are. “The most important message that comes out of this pandemic is how many people have atrophied and how much movement is an important element of their daily lives.”
At the beginning of the pandemic, Shannon Boughn, owner of the 17th Street Athletic Club in the mission district, worries about Peloton and the virtual class could completely replace Jim.
“It was horrible just to think that this was probably a new world and everything was online,” she says. So far, that’s not the case. “What I see when they ease Maskman dating and send people home is that they want to get in, want a community, and want direct accountability.”
Now that “existential horror” is over, her focus is on the city, Boughn says. She says masks make sense with a full-blown surge, but she knows that it means a significant drop in customers for the foreseeable future. She wants the city to be able to intervene in the help.
“The city has to do a few things to help Jim help the restaurant,” says Boughn. “And they have to come up with a way to make doing business in the city a little easier.”
Ryan Kost is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: rkost@sfchronicle.com. twitter: @RyanKost
