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Florida gyms still sit empty
Josh Cascio reports
TAMPA, Fla. - Gym owners across Florida are feeling the squeeze as they have not yet been allowed to re-open.
Tuesday is day two of Florida’s economic-reopening, but for Rich Pond of Crossfit Apogee in Apollo Beach, the clock hasn’t even started ticking. Gyms and some other close-touch businesses were excluded from phase one, which means income is also still at zero.
“We're going to try and push through it but I don’t know what the future holds,” said Pond.
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Pond has re-arranged his setup in hopes of keeping distance between members. But until phase two starts -- and the governor has not yet said when that would be -- the only sweat here is from what tomorrow may or may not bring.
“We're in a tenuous place, not just here but everywhere,” Pond said.
Perhaps the clearest sign of that is the recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of major-chain Gold’s Gym.
“This really put a burden on our industry, it really did,” said John Sanguinetti, owner of Tampa’s Powerhouse Gym Athletic Club.
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Sanguinetti is also eager to re-open, even if it’s only at 75% capacity to start.
“We’re going to do things that are going take the safety of our members and clients to the next level,” he pledged.
But until then, it’s a waiting game. And with every passing day, the lift gets heavier and heavier.