Yoga Enterprise

Gym and fitness studio owners disappointed at mandated closures as they find ways to adapt

SINGAPORE: This Saturday, May 8th, should be an auspicious date for Mr. Dittaya Mhosomboon. It would have been his first day of business at his new Hong Kong Street gym.

He had reserved slots for customers to attend training courses and tour the new facilities. The courses were scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Instead, the 31-year-old will now recall this for various reasons after it was announced that indoor gyms and gyms will have to close May 8-30 as Singapore tightens COVID-19 measures amid the number of cases increases in the church.

“It was definitely unexpected … It was so unfortunate that it was on the first day, the start,” said Mhosomboon. “The first thing I could think of was, ‘What should I do?'”

READ: 5 people maximum for social gatherings, household visits to return as Singapore tightens COVID-19 measures

When announcing the new measures on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said: “Because of the overseas and on-site experience, higher-risk environments such as indoor gyms and indoor gyms tend to be hotspots for the transmission of COVID-19.

“In these environments and associated activities, there is a high density of people who are exposed and often in close proximity to one another for long periods of time.”

Ms. Dewi Chen, the founder of Terra Luna Yoga, said she was disappointed with the restrictions, adding that authorities should have specified the types of restricted activities rather than a blanket ban on gyms and studios.

She noted that there needs to be clearer guidelines for multipurpose spaces as well, as some studios like her have business models based on renting out the space for other purposes.

“I think a little more elaboration is needed,” added Ms. Chen, whose studio is also used for music and theater enrichment programs. “Is it based on the venue, the type of business, or the actual practice?”

READ: Singapore Returns To Tighter COVID-19 Measures: What The New Rules Allow?

Mr. Brandon Koh, the studio manager at F45 Upper Thomson, said he believed the move “blinded” the industry.

“It wasn’t like a week in advance to prepare, we’re just blind and it’s a four day thing,” he said.

“It’s very difficult for companies to get things organized within four days. We have to work together with our other providers, our landlords, for example we have to ask for rent relief for this period. “

ADAPTATION TO THE CHANGE

Ms. Linda Tang, co-founder of WeBarre, which has four studios in Singapore, said it has “eggs in multiple baskets” as it currently offers both personal and virtual classes as well as on-demand workouts that can be accessed remotely .

“We are very happy to be able to offer our community multiple options. It was something we always wanted to do from the start, to be able to perform in many different ways for our community, ”she told CNA.

WeBarre plans to expand its virtual offerings in the next few weeks, Ms. Tang said. The company has also created a limited-time package for 23 days at a reduced price for customers during the affected period, she added.

While Ms. Chen agreed that online courses are a workaround, she noted that they cannot completely replace the Terra Luna Yoga business model.

“People don’t want to pay enough. They think, “You don’t have to pay rent. So why do I have to pay the same price in an online space as I do in a personal class?” The value for virtual classes is still not there, ”she explained.

A woman who does yoga. (File photo: Pixabay)

Some gym owners found that online classes cannot completely replace the experience of attending class in person.

Mr. Koh said there are three “value propositions” people pay for when they visit a studio or gym – use of equipment, programming, and teachers.

“With an online listing, the equipment is not available because there is generally no place to rent or buy in Singaporean households. As a result, the quality of programming degrades as no equipment is used, ”he said.

“It also reduces the instructor’s experience, and it is virtual and not personal. This results in a value proposition that is only a fraction of what they get in a studio or gym, and the payment by consumers matches that. “

People walk past on rollerblades while others ride bikes in East Coast Park

People walk past on rollerblades while others ride bikes at East Coast Park in Singapore on December 25, 2020. (Photo: AFP / Roslan Rahman)

According to the MOH, organized outdoor training programs and courses can continue with a total class size of 30. Within this group, the group sizes must be kept to five with a distance of 3 m between the individual groups.

However, Ms. Chen said this was “inconsistent” with the general intention to reduce the crowd, as it might encourage more crowds to gather in parks.

“It’s a recipe for disaster simply because we have limited parks in Singapore that allow such classes and on top of that there are more people who, as we learned during the breaker period, would flood the parks. “

Mr Mhosomboon said that outdoors could be a possible alternative to gym classes, but there needs to be more clarity about how things can be done.

“We’ll have to wait and see over the next few days if there are any clearer parameters that we need to take note of,” he added.

As for his launch, he may have no choice but to postpone it.

“I’ve been planning to suffer this setback for many months now. I just see it as another setback, “he said.” Since I’ve waited so long, I’ll only wait another month. “

Feeling the pain “acute”

Given that gyms and gyms were affected during the pandemic, those CNA spoke to realized that the move will affect their businesses.

On behalf of Ms. Chen from Terra Luna Yoga, she said that she had just signed a new lease last month and that she will now feel the pain “more acutely”.

She had decided to move to a new room that would be more conducive to customers amid the pandemic and better comply with safe distance requirements.

“The location we chose – the fact that it has big windows and more space – was simply because we knew COVID-19 was not going to leave us and that there was already government management to handle it Situation to deal with, “she said.

“Sure, even though you can cover your base with all of these measures, it’s clearly not enough … Now I’m wondering if it was a good idea to keep doing business. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have shut down. “

Mr Koh of F45 Upper Thomson said it was important that landlords help the affected gyms during this time.

READ: The possibility of a circuit breaker isn’t ruled out as the COVID-19 Task Force announces stricter measures

“Landlords should also take part in the social burden in order to contain the pandemic. Not just the tenants. Many landlords have multiple properties with multiple tenants that are still in operation. The financial impact is not significant for them, but it is for us, ”said Koh.

He noted that operators like him could potentially see an 80 to 100 percent drop in revenue during this period.

“Charging rent means that fitness companies that pay employee wages can have trouble getting payroll when everything goes on rent. This fundamentally contradicts the grain of society and the wishes of political decision-makers, namely the absorption of those who have lost jobs. “

Ms. Tang said WeBarre was already operating at around 60 to 70 percent of its usual capacity before the closings were announced.

“Already in phase 3 we are overwhelmed in terms of profit margins and sales. I think this is something that we need to approach proactively and conservatively,” she said.

“Our top priority is that business stay afloat and that our team stay afloat with their livelihoods … This is definitely something that is very important and we try to think about all the creative solutions so that we can make it through these three weeks and not too far down next month. “

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