The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business

Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN gym owners say business has increased by as much as 25 percent post-Christmas as persons move to work off the pounds gained during the holiday season.

Dr Kent Bazard, owner of Empire Fitness, told Tribune Business that such trends were a “regular thing” for the sector every time New Year hits as customers make good on their resolutions.

“Things taper off usually at around the end of February, the beginning of March, but that’s when a lot of the marketing campaigns start to pick up around that time also,” he said, “media campaigns and other techniques for maintaining those new members that we got. So we know February and early March is when they start to drop off, so that is when we have to start targeting those people.”

COVID-19 is not yet behind gym owners, Dr Bazard emphasised, due to the close proximity between persons when they are working out in close quarters. “I do see a lot of people being eager to get back into fitness, and get back into the gym, so we hope to see a continued increase, especially around the time where we are expected to have a drop off,” he added.

Jaime Thompson, Happy Hour Crossfit’s owner/ operator, said: “We’re definitely seeing a huge influx of people coming in for January. We have members coming back and new members joining in. We’re seeing about a 25 percent spike in new business now.”

While this spike is typical for Happy Hour Crossfit, he added that historically the business has retained its members all the way through October because they are more “family oriented”. Mr Thompson added: “The members that join usually stick around, and then they head off for the summer to focus on things they didn’t have time to focus on while they were at work, and that typically lasts until October. Then, in October, it starts all over again and everything starts to pick back up.”

Describing it as a “pretty average” January season, Mr Thompson said the largest business increase experienced at this time was in 2021 when COVID- 19 restrictions were first lifted. This prompted many persons to return to the gym wanting to get fit.

He added: “There is no concern about COVID- 19 because we have a lot of things implemented to make sure we keep the place as clean as possible. So while members are certainly adhering to the social distancing, we just remind them to be courteous to one another and keep everything sanitary and watch out for everyone else.”

Will Saunders, general manager of Evolve Fitness, said customer traffic has not started to pick up yet, but he is expecting this week to have more people signing up for new memberships. “They normally start around the end of January for us, so we are just patient. I think the lag has to do with the holiday being this Tuesday, so after that they will probably start coming into the gym,” he added.

Evolve normally sees a 30 percent increase in business in January, and Mr Saunders indicated he is expecting a repeat after tomorrow’s Majority Rule Day holiday.