SINGAPORE: It has been more than a year since fitness enthusiasts were able to resume high-intensity indoor exercises with their masks off, but gyms in Singapore say that business has yet to bounce back to pre-COVID levels.
Rising costs, manpower shortages, new daily routines that eschew gym-going and renewed distractions in the form of travel are just some of the challenges facing fitness businesses that spoke to CNA.
The fitness industry has rallied this year to rebuild what it lost during the pandemic, said Mr Ross Campbell, co-founder of the SG Fitness Alliance, a non-profit industry association.
“Sadly several businesses had to close but we’ve gratefully seen several new investors and operators come into the market with exciting new facilities and member experiences.
“However, persistent headwinds still exist that are hindering most businesses’ full recovery to pre-pandemic levels,” Mr Campbell said.
SUDDEN CLOSURES
The struggles faced by the fitness industry have been evident in recent weeks with the sudden closure of gyms like X Fitness and Superfly Studios.
X Fitness, a spin studio at GR.iD mall in Selegie, went dark on the Internet in the middle of September, leaving customers unable to book classes and stranded with unclaimed class packages.
One customer told CNA that the gym did not inform her about the closure, and that her attempts to contact the studio were unsuccessful.
The police have said that reports were lodged over the closures of X Fitness and affiliated brand Kyklos Studio, and that they are looking into the matter.
Police also confirmed that a report was lodged over the closure of Superfly.
The company launched in September last year and offered various exercise classes at three outlets.
A check of its Facebook page and Google reviews showed several comments by customers expressing unhappiness at a lack of communication and refunds after outlets closed.
A Superfly representative told CNA that the company gave customers a “gradual communication” about the closure from the last week of August, with a “final communication” before the month’s end.
The company added that staff were consulted beforehand and “a consensus was formed to wind down the business”.
Operations at its United Square studio were transferred to 24-hour fitness chain Anytime Fitness, while its studio at Forum The Shopping Mall is in the process of being taken over by another operator, the representative said.
Superfly said it had processed 75 per cent of customers’ class package refunds as of Sep 14, and expected to complete the remaining 25 per cent “in the next few weeks”.
The Superfly representative said the company had been making a loss since the start of the year.
“The shifting environment for fitness meant that plans made for the roll-out of the studios late last year did not pan out as we had expected.”
Superfly also said it “could not have foreseen the effect from the reopening of unrestricted travel and the full return to work which meant that customers had other priorities”.
“As a new brand, it meant it was harder to attract customers and staff. This, coupled with the shortage of manpower, (meant) we could not sustain the business and we made the difficult decision to wind down.”
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