By SCOTT MERZBACH / Special to The Republican and MassLive.com
AMHERST - At 9 a.m. last Tuesday, Susan Whitbourne left her regular Body Pump and weight-lifting class at Leading Edge on University Drive. Less than eight hours later, she learned that the gym had closed, for good.
“This took me by complete surprise,” said Whitbourne, who had planned to return, with several others, for a three-times-a-week aerobics class that afternoon.
Instead, these participants and other members found the building locked and signs announcing that the fitness center was no longer open.
Joanne DeLong, Leading Edge’s owner, sent out an email to members blaming both the economic downturn and increased competition as the main reasons for closing.
“It is with profound regret that a decision has been made to close the Amherst gym as of Wednesday, Oct. 20,” DeLong wrote.
DeLong, a retired attorney formerly of Hadley, said financial challenges could not be resolved by dues increases or a reduction in classes.
The closing comes about a year after DeLong and fellow shareholder and corporate treasurer Peter Earle began a court battle that remains unresolved. DeLong, who lives in Rhode Island, and Earle, of Hadley, each alleged the other had mishandled company finances, causing the business to fall behind on rent and a $250,000 business loan.
A hearing had been scheduled Oct. 18 in Hampshire Superior Court on DeLong’s request to have a judge terminate Earle’s financial control of the business. Court records indicate the hearing did not go forward, because lawyers on both sides of the case deemed it “moot.”
Attorney David Noonan, who represents DeLong, said Earle is no longer involved in the business. “As of Friday, he basically walked away,” Noonan said. Earle and his attorney, Patricia Szumowski, could not be reached for comment.
One local investor has begun efforts to reopen the gym. Late last week, Amherst resident Greg Boisseau sent an email to several members about setting up meetings to discuss the idea, and a Facebook page, Keep Our Amherst Gym Open, has led to discussions about how to proceed.
A meeting is scheduled for tonight at 6 on the top floor at 26 Main St., Amherst, above the Pasta e Basta restaurant. Boisseau said a potential principal owner will attend, and those who show up will have a chance to contribute ideas.
Leading Edge opened in December 2003 as a Gold’s Gym, housed in a 22,000-square-foot portion of the former Victory supermarket at Newmarket Center. In addition to free weights and fitness machines, Leading Edge offered classes, including Zumba and Pilates, and a juice bar and sauna in the men’s and women’s locker rooms. The owners upgraded the equipment and flooring in Amherst, and opened a second facility in Greenfield as more of a discount gym where fewer services were offered.
Unlike members of the Leading Edge, the class instructors, who were paid employees, were apparently not notified in advance of the closing. Catherine Sanderson, of Amherst, who taught a “Double Step” class for five years at Leading Edge, said she found out about the closing when the news was posted on a local blog.
“I’m absolutely concerned for the trainers and the sense of community that was destroyed in 30 seconds,” said Whitbourne, a regular at the gym.
The closing of Leading Edge continues a recent trend in which some area gyms are struggling to survive, even as the health club industry continues to grow.
Amherst Athletic Club in South Amherst closed this summer and KidSports/Kinetics and Ultimate Fitness, both in Hadley, shut down in the last five years.
In the same time period, Planet Fitness opened at Mountain Farms Mall in Hadley and the UMass Recreation Center came online. According to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, based in Boston, there were 29,750 health clubs in the United States as of January, with a combined membership of 45.3 million and annual revenue of $19.5 billion.
The association says that, even with an economic downturn, the combination of national interest in health and wellness, corporate and HMO benefits, and near-continuous media splashes of health trends all contribute to expected growth in the industry for at least the next 10 years.
However, data is scant on the effect that gyms with cut-rate prices - such as Planet Fitness and Retro Fitness - have on non-franchise operations. DeLong’s email noted competition from Planet Fitness, with its low introductory rates of $10 per month, and the Rec Center, which opened a year ago for use largely by undergraduates, with staff, faculty and graduates also permitted to go there.
Whitbourne said owners should have adjusted their business model months ago, perhaps by raising rates, as it was evident beginning last fall that far fewer college students were using Leading Edge.
UMass spokesman Ed Blaguszewski said campus-based recreation facilities are common and have become an important service to students. It should not be seen as the university competing against private health clubs. He noted that colleges must compete for students, just as gyms compete for members.
“Our mission here is to serve the campus community and specifically our undergraduates, and we have 20,000 of them. A recreation center is an important piece to that,” Blaguszewski said. “We want local business to succeed and flourish. There’s always going to be changes in the market at times, and depending on those changes, businesses may need to adapt and adjust, and so does the university.”
An annual undergraduate service fee of $675.50 for in-state students helps to pay the bond payments on the borrowing for the building, as well as other services on campus.
The Rec Center should not be perceived as a free facility, Blaguszewski noted, observing that graduate students and retired faculty and staff pay $290 a year, faculty and staff, $340, and alumni with a degree, $600. “It’s priced in a market-based way,” Blaguszewski said.
Whitbourne said she paid a $29.99 monthly fee for use of the Leading Edge gym, with her most recent payment made three days before it closed. Planet Fitness, by comparison, charges $10 a month, with no commitment required, while Hampshire Athletic Club charges a regular rate of $499 per year. Larry Kelley, who ran the Amherst Athletic Club for nearly three decades, attributed the closing of Leading Edge, in part, to the economy. People who are out of work or worried about being laid off have to be cost-conscious, he said.
Even with the competition, Kelley said, there should still be room for a multi-fitness facility between the Hampshire Athletic Club model, where rates are higher due to features like a swimming pool, and Planet Fitness, which only has free weights and cardio machines and no classes.
DeLong is offering members two options: transferring to the Leading Edge gym in Greenfield, or getting reimbursed for any payments they have made in advance. One member, Michelle Rosenfield, said she will only go to the Greenfield gym if her personal trainer relocates there.
Whitbourne said it is impractical to expect people in Amherst to travel to Greenfield.