Coronavirus Side Effects Grip Businesses, 1000 Gyms Across Pune & PCMC On The Brink Of Closing Down

Punekars, chances are you might never be able to workout at your favourite gym thanks to the seemingly never ending pandemic. If reports are to go by, around 1,000 gyms across Pune and PCMC are on the verge of pulling down their shutters permanently.

Along with the many, many lives that we lost during the pandemic, unstable economy and closure of businesses have been a major side effect of Coronavirus. Due to the situation, citizens aren't very comfortable to step out of their homes and with restricted timings, gyms are bearing the brunt. Despite it being  a month after reopening,  gyms across the city have failed to attract members back.. While the old members do not wish to renew their membership, in spite of offering massive discounts, the gyms are struggling to attract new members and staying afloat. Due to this major hit to the business, around 1,000 gyms in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad area are on the verge of shutting down and many are considering selling their setups.  

Talking about the crisis and how difficult the situation is for those in the fitness industry, Nilesh Kale, president of Pune Fitness Club Association informed The Times of India, “I am desperately trying to sell my gym. There were around 3,500 gyms in both the PMC and PCMC  area and around 1,000 of them have shut down permanently after lockdown last year and another 1,000 are on the verge of shutting down.” The restricted timings have just added to the problem and gyms have hardly been able to get any members. Since most people are working from home, they want flexible timings which is not possible in today’s scenario.  

Kondhwa based gym owner said that only a few old members who had paid membership fees in the early 2020 are visiting the gym. Many fitness enthusiasts have bought their own equipment like treadmills, cross trainers, weights and prefer home workouts. Even though this has impacted the gyms, the sales of gym equipment on the other hand has boomed. 

With gyms shut, many people have even taken up cycling. An official of Bikes and Bikes in Pimple Gurav told The Times of India, “Each month, we sell around 30 to 40 cycles and the sales of cycles dramatically increased right after the first lockdown and have remained consistent since.  We hope that we are all soon out of this nightmare safe and sound but the dent that it has made on the economy seems very permanent. 
News Source: The Times Of India