Weights down ... forever
Fitness giant makes weighty decision to permanently close Austin-area gym
Hammered by the novel coronavirus pandemic, Gold’s Gym International Inc. has permanently shut down 32 company-owned locations, including one in Austin area. In all, the company has permanently closed 11 gyms in Texas.
In the Capital City, Gold’s permanently closed its gym at 1019 W. University Ave. in Georgetown.
The company says these shutdowns don’t affect any of the franchisee-owned locations of Gold’s Gym.
“We have been working with our landlords to ensure that the remaining company-owned gyms reopen stronger than ever coming out of this pandemic,” Gold’s says in a May 4 statement.
Across the U.S., Gold’s was forced to temporarily close gyms in response to stay-at-home orders intended to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. On May 4, Gold’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to coronavirus-inflicted damage done to the business.
“While the COVID 19-related closures have caused us to reassess the viability of some company-owned locations and make the difficult decision to permanently close about 30 gyms, we know that we will emerge from this stronger and ready to grow,” Adam Zeitsiff, president and CEO of Gold’s Gym since February 2019, said in an April 15 statement posted on the company’s Facebook page.
The San Antonio-area locations that Gold’s Gym has shuttered are at: 5025 Prue Rd.,15759 San Pedro Ave., and 21044 U.S. Highway 281 North.
The Dallas area also has lost three company-owned Gold’s locations. They’re at 2425 McKinney Ave. and 8335 Westchester Dr. in Dallas, and 1001 N. Beckley Ave. in DeSoto.
Other Texas gyms that were shuttered are in Bellmead, Temple, Victoria, and Wichita Falls.
Dallas-based Gold’s Gym has nearly 700 locations in 29 countries. Dallas billionaire Robert Rowling owns Gold’s, along with the Omni Hotels chain. Rowling’s holding company put Gold’s up for sale in 2018 but took it off the market in tandem with bringing aboard Zeitsiff as president and CEO.