The owner says a failed expansion plan led to the bankruptcy filing.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Three North Carolina locations for gym club Fuel Fitness have landed in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The impacted locations are in Mooresville, Durham and Winston-Salem. The company also has gyms in Wilmington and Wilson that are not included in the bankruptcy filing.
Christopher Stewart, CEO of Fuel Fitness Holdings, said in an email that the decision to file for bankruptcy stemmed from a failed financial partnership that was meant to fund new locations for the company.
The gyms in Mooresville, Durham and Winston-Salem plan to remain open, he said.
“We believe that this restructuring process will allow Fuel Fitness Holdings to emerge stronger and more resilient,” Stewart said. “Our top priority is to ensure that our members continue to have access to the exceptional fitness experience they’ve come to expect, while we work diligently to implement changes that will secure the future of the company and continued growth of the brand.”
Fuel Fitness offers group classes, personal training and corporate wellness packages for its members. Monthly memberships cost $39 or $49 per month with added benefits like pool access, according to the company’s website.
Stewart is the former chief operating officer at O2 Fitness, a homegrown fitness company with multiple locations throughout North Carolina and two in Charleston, South Carolina. The company is opening a new location in Wake Forest soon.
Philip Sasser with Sasser Law Firm is representing Fuel Fitness in its bankruptcy. Filings show between $50,000 and $100,000 in assets and between $1 million and $10 million in liabilities.
Among its unsecured claims is a $463,370 SBA loan from Live Oak Bank, and a separate SBA loan for $345,000 from Newtek Bank. SBA loans — while an issue in other recent small-business bankruptcies — were not a precipitating factor in the Fuel Fitness bankruptcy, Sasser said.
Bankruptcy documents also list Vision General Contractors and its Summerville, South Carolina, office as a creditor that Fuel Fitness owes $1.2 million.
Mooresville’s Fuel Fitness is located at 191 W. Plaza Drive, Durham’s is at 105 W. N.C. Highway 54, and the Winston-Salem location is at 2825 Reynolds Road.
Earlier this year, two Triangle locations for Title Boxing Club filed for bankruptcy reorganization due to pandemic-era loans coming due. Also fitness studio franchises for Body20 closed in Brier Creek and Cary earlier this year.
Although Sasser occasionally takes a bankruptcy case from a fitness client, he has not seen a general trend of gyms or fitness studios going bankrupt.
“I have no reason to think the market or industry is suffering in any way,” he said.
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