The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Stunned Bahamian gym owners yesterday said closure of their businesses is "a very real option" after the Prime Minister yesterday ordered the sector to close again just two weeks after it re-opened.

Acknowledging that Dr Hubert Minnis' move to shutter the sector was a “blow", as the Government bids to halt the surge in COVID-19 infections in New Providence and Grand Bahama, they argued that the sudden closure was unnecessary given that client numbers remain below pre-pandemic levels.

Dr Kent Bazard, owner/operator of Empire Fitness, said in a short note to this newspaper: “Closing my business is now a very real option I have to consider.” Speaking just a fortnight ago, after Dr Minnis had again given the sector the go-ahead to re-open, he said then: "There is not much longer we can hold out. Within a few weeks it will be $80,000 in debt and that’s not sustainable at all.

"This is money that I owe regardless of when we open. I owe the money. This is not a good place at all. The bank is not working with me and we are working out a payment plan with our landlord. They are very understanding, but they are still due their money whether or not our business closes down or not.

"As far as the law is concerned they are totally within their legal rights to kick us out at any point, but I’m saying as a business we cannot keep racking up bills. We can’t be operating a business and operating in hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. We just can’t do it.”

The latest closure, and the frequent switching between lockdown and opening, has thus brought some gym owners to the brink of extinction. Mark Turnquest, a small business consultant who yesterday revealed that five of his clients are gym owners, said yesterday: "All of them are crying now.

"They were only open for two weeks. All of them reinvested money to buy bar bells and equipment, and now they have to close again. That's going to kill them. To have a successful gym you've got to have equipment, and that costs money. The landlords and banks, they ain't checking. They are in one mess."

Alison Burnside, owner/operator of Reflection Image Fitness Centre, told Tribune Business yesterday of the Prime Minister's move: “It’s a blow, OK. I mean, he didn’t need to shut us down abruptly. He could have let us open up a timeframe because we don’t have large numbers of participants in the gym right now due to the fact that a lot of people are still in fear of coming out.

“We were just trying to get ourselves together to pay off some of our utility bills and our rent. Our landlord was lenient with us, but now with this..... What could you do except for us to sit here in a state of shock.”

Dr Minnis acknowledged the pain he was inflicting on the sector, saying: "Unfortunately, gyms will once again be closed. I acknowledge that they were only very recently opened. We will try to re-open them as soon as possible.”

Ms Burnside said her landlord is Super Value chief Rupert Roberts, and said: “He gave us leniency for the past seven months and now this again? Then we have to pay for deep sanitising, and we have to get the Ministry of Health and do their course and what not to meet the requirements. We are practicing the protocols and here it is again; we are shut down."

Ms Burnside said she had patrons inside that heard the Prime Minister's decision on TV at the same time she. She waited for them to finish their workout routine before closing, adding: “I can’t put them out. They are putting food on my table. I’m waiting on them to finish, I will be honest with you.”

She continued: “We haven’t had any cases in any gyms reported for COVID-19. I don’t recall anything because when my patrons come in they have to sign the register, put your gym number and your gym membership name, and sanitise when you come through even before you pick up the pen.

"You have a timeframe to be in here, one hour and 15 minutes, and then you have to leave. If we have six persons in the weight room, the next person has to wait outside until they are finished because we don’t even want you gathering by the counter. So it is a fluid in and out of people coming in the gym.”

Ms Burnside said she has no intention of closing her business entirely and will “stick it out” until the latest COVID-19 restrictions end.

Jennifer Godet, owner of J-Line Fitness, said: “All victory over the pandemic and the economy and life itself belongs to God, so there is nothing to fear. From a business standpoint, I do not see how the constant back and forth will improve the overall outcome.”