Blink Fitness, a low-cost gym chain owned by luxury fitness company Equinox Group, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The fitness brand, which has over 100 centers across the U.S., is the newest chain to file for bankruptcy following the pandemic, following firms similar to New York Sports Club, 24 Hour Fitness and Gold's Gym.
The company plans to sell its business and has listed its assets and liabilities at $100 million and $500 million, respectively. It plans to proceed operating its fitness centers throughout the sale process, in response to a press release.
“Over the past few months, we have focused on strengthening Blink's financial foundation and positioning the company for long-term success,” said Guy Harkless, CEO and president of Blink Fitness, in a press release. “After evaluating our options, the board and management team have determined that utilizing the court-supervised process to optimize the company's image and complete a sale of the company is the best path forward.”
This shouldn’t be step one taken by the Equinox Group to enhance the corporate's funds. Luxury fitness center Equinox, which belongs to the group alongside brands similar to SoulCycle and Pure Yoga, accomplished a transaction valued at $1.8 billion. Financing round in March, partly to refinance its $1.2 billion in debt.
The privately held company said it saw a 27% increase in revenue in 2023 and that membership numbers are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels. Equinox is currently planning to open greater than two dozen latest locations worldwide.
To improve its funds, Equinox also introduced a $40,000 annual gym membership for its most affluent members earlier this 12 months.
All this comes as a CNBC/Generation Lab survey on “Youth and Money” – which surveyed 1,034 people ages 18 to 34 within the U.S. in August – found that a couple of third of Americans in that age group spend between $1 and $50 a month on sports and fitness, while 47 percent say they spend “nothing at all.”
Blink offers memberships starting from $17 to $39 per thirty days, depending on location, and competes with other low-cost gym chains like Planet Fitnesswhich raised the worth of its basic membership to $15 per thirty days in June.
Unlike Blink, Planet Fitness reported strong membership growth of seven% 12 months over 12 months within the second quarter, reaching a complete of 19.7 million members. Planet Fitness shares recently hit a 52-week high, reaching levels not seen since May 2023.
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