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While hospitality and retail are obvious sectors that have been pummeled by the pandemic, the gym industry has also been knocked down.
A late September survey from RunRepeat, an athletic shoe information portal, found that only 30.98% of gym members have returned to their gym since lockdowns ended. More troubling for gym owners: Nearly six of 10 respondents, the report shows, 59.06%, have canceled or are considering canceling memberships. (The breakdown: 19.59% canceled, 40.11% considering.)
In addition, consumer confidence in gyms has decreased since March. Some 22.35% fewer members returned to their gyms than expected to by late-September, and 22.49% more respondents canceled or considered canceling memberships than expected from a March survey. Meanwhile, for nearly one-fourth of the population, gym-based consumer confidence is irrelevant because 23.93% of survey respondents say their gyms have yet to reopen or are permanently closed. Consider New York, where 63% of the gyms remain closed and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as recently as August, called going to the gym a “dangerous activity.”
Specific to Florida, the report shows 45.26% of respondents have returned to gyms in the state. That’s No. 4 in the country, behind Tennessee, Ohio and Missouri, and just ahead of Colorado.
While Sunshine State exercisers start heading back to gyms, an ominous sign is that gym operators, compared on national scale, continue to struggle. In a separate late September survey, RunRepeat says Florida is No. 5 on the list of states with gyms that have permanently closed, at 2.81%.
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