Thursday, August 15, 2024

Despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the local Blink Fitness outposts will remain open

After filing for bankruptcy on Monday, Blink Fitness said it may close an unspecified number of its 101 clubs. 

However, according to a report in Our Town, the 11 NYC locations, including on Avenue A between Sixth Street and Seventh Street and the NoHo outpost on Lafayette and Fourth Street, will remain open.

Equinox Group, Blink's parent company, is not filing for bankruptcy protection, per published reports.

Reported ABC 7
Around 25% of US gyms and studios permanently closed during the COVID-19 pandemic — roughly 10,000 facilities, according to the Health & Fitness Association, an industry trade group. Several major chains, including 24 Hour Fitness and Gold's Gym, filed for bankruptcy. 

Blink's bankruptcy shows the lingering impact of the pandemic on the fitness industry. During the height of the pandemic in 2020, Blink temporarily closed all of its clubs, leaving it without revenue to fund operations. Blink said in its bankruptcy filing that it is still financially constrained by rent payments it had put off and was still trying to catch up on from the pandemic. 
The 98 Avenue A Blink location opened in October 2017 in the retail space of Ben Shaoul's luxury condoplex

Before the demolition, the vast retail space was East Village Farms. That building opened as the Avenue A Theatre in 1926. RKO operated it, followed by Loew's, and it closed in 1959. 

1 comment:

  1. I'm glad the local locations area staying open. I'm a former user of the Lafayette location and always found it to be a nice gym - clean, never too crowded, working machines, nice staff. Of course, it was affordable. I'd previously used other gyms that were 4x the price, but for a no-frills gym, Blink was the best economical choice.

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