Weighed down by huge overheads, gym owners explore options to survive

After remaining shut for nearly three months now, gymnasiums in Noida are battling for survival with owners renegotiating rentals with landlords and exploring revenue-sharing

After remaining shut for nearly three months now, gymnasiums in Noida are battling for survival with owners renegotiating rentals with landlords and exploring revenue-sharing models even as Covid-19 is bound to keep their members away art least for the near future.

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Gym owners and managers are contemplating a change in business models and are chalking out new plans such as online training modules, and fitness trainer services at doorstep, among others, to survive in a post-lockdown time.

Health officials said gyms were among the first to be shut to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and they will be among the last to be permitted by the government. Gyms in Noida have been shut since on March 15, at least 10 days before the nationwide lockdown kicked in on March 25.

According to World Health Organization experts, gyms are hot spots of Covid-19 infection as a large number of people use the same machines, weights, and other exercise paraphernalia.Gym users also constantly touching their face, water bottles and face towels, which invariably increases the risk of an infection spread. No matter how many times the gym administration sanitises the place, the chances of an infection are higher in the closed space environment.

In such a scenario, gym owners are looking to the government for help, stating that even though their establishments were closed over the past three months, they still had to shell out ₹25,000-50,000 a month on fixed overheads, not to mention rents that vary from ₹1-5 lakh, depending on the location and exclusivity of the gym.

“Currently, the major issues we face is that we pay ₹4.25 lakh as rent every month, which we are trying to negotiate down with the landlord. We had been paying salaries to our staff and are in touch with our clients who wish to join back soon. We are also in touch with a few vendors to procure face shields and glass partitions between machines to ensure safety of users. But unless the rent is brought down, we may be forced to close,” Deepa Ahuja, who owns Anytime Fitness – an American Fitness chain, in Sector 108, said.

Anytime Fitness owns 100 centres across the country, of which nearly 40 are located in Delhi-NCR and four in Noida.

“The landlords expect us to pay full rents, irrespective of whether we have business or not. Even after the government allows us to reopen, we will get fewer clients. So the minimum support we seek from our landlord, after opening, is a 30-50% reduction in rent or a revenue-sharing agreement. If the landlord persists in claiming the full rent, we might not open at all,” Ankur Arora, owner and founder, La Fitness, Sector 18, said.

The central government, in an order on May 30, had said a decision on the reopening of gymnasiums and swimming pools shall be taken in the “third phase” of the Unlock1 plan. Although there is no time limit specified for the third phase, it cannot take place before July as state governments are yet to decide on the second phase, which includes the opening of schools and colleges.

According to the officials, there are about 400 gyms in Gautam Budh Nagar.

“They can operate once the district administration gives a go-ahead. But my department’s main priority would be to ensure that proper precautions are taken to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. Nothing is more important than human life,” Poonam Bishnoi, district sports officer, said.

However, the gym owners say while they are all set protocols and precautionary measures to ensure safety of clients, it’s their own existence that’s currently at stake.

According to the managing director of Anytime Fitness, the fitness chain is witnessing a revenue loss of ₹15 lakh per month per centre.

“We desperately need relief from the government and landlords, because the rentals are a major chuck of our monthly fixed charges. Gym owners also had to pay the electricity charges varying from ₹25,000-50,000 even for the period when the gyms are closed. If the rentals are not revised, about 40% of all gyms will close and at least 50 families per centre will suffer a livelihood loss,” Vikas Jain, managing director, Anytime Fitness, said.

Ranjan Ghosh, senior regional manager, Gold’s Gym, who operates a branch in Noida’s Sector 30, said after resuming operations the fitness chain anticipates a direct loss of 35% .

Gold’s Gym is an American fitness chain with around 150 gyms across 94 Indian cities. In Delhi-NCR, Gold Gyms has 18 centres of which two are in Noida.

“Even if we open around August, going by the trends seen at our branches in Mongolia and Egypt, where gyms have opened again, we expect an approximately 35% revenue loss,” Ghosh said.