AM I NEXT? IS THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL AT 24-HOUR FITNESS (UPDATED)

JUNE 15, 2020 — COMPANY FILES FOR CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY, 100 LOCATIONS TO CLOSE

24 Hour Fitness has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and has permanently closed 100 US locations in 14 states.

According to a company spokesperson, "If it were not for Covid-19 and its devastating effects, we would not be filing for Chapter 11. We expect to have substantial financing with a path to restructuring our balance sheet and operations to ensure a resilient future.”

The company has committed to "reinvestment in our existing clubs, opening new clubs and introducing several new innovative products and services."

Original post…

San Ramon, California-based 24 Hour Fitness, a chain of fitness centers, was in financial difficulty prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that has wreaked havoc on the U.S. economy as businesses were shuttered and individuals were instructed to "stay at home."

In announcing the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer on January 15, 2020, a company spokesperson noted...

"'After an extensive strategic review and development of our company's new value proposition, the board came to the conclusion that the company required a different CEO skill set to achieve its transformational objectives,' said Roland Smith, Chairman of the Board of Directors at 24 Hour Fitness. 'With 25 years of demonstrated success across a diverse background of experiences in the consumer products, retail, and healthcare services industries, Tony has the unique skill set and experience required to execute on the strategic plans we have laid out to transform 24 Hour Fitness into the clear industry leader.'"

With transformational restructuring in mind, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the company to curtail operations which deepened its financial difficulties.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the company engaged Lazard and Weil, Gotshal & Manges, a prominent restructuring and financial engineering consultancy, to assist the company in exploring its options -- code words for selling the company or declaring bankruptcy to restructure debt.

Either way, it does not portend a bright future for employees who are often treated as fungible casual labor than valuable resources.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT GOLD'S GYM (UPDATED)

MAY 4, 2020 — GOLD’S GYM FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY

The company has announced that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 4, 2020.

According to a company spokesperson,

“We are filing this to restructure the company, and this is strictly as a result of the pandemic. We were on a massive turnaround. We were refranchising stores, awarding company-owned stores to franchisees. We were all over the place growing our business. We were ahead of plan for the year.

And then COVID-19 hit, and this is simply our way of acting swiftly to ensure we have a long-term viable and sustainable business. We went from having a strong revenue stream and growing our business in 2020 to having nothing.

This is the right thing for Gold’s Gym so that we can be much more viable after this pandemic ends “We want to get ahead of this. We have the fiduciary responsibility to make sure we have a company and a brand here for our members, for our franchisees and for the community for the next 55 years and longer. That’s the whole reason we’re doing this. It’s about how do we continue to grow through franchising, grow that business, grow our licensing business as well as maintain a very solid set of company-owned gyms.”

Original Post…

Dallas, Texas-based Gold's Gym, the iconic gym and fitness center started in Venice, California, has announced that it will be permanently closing approximately 32 corporate locations and laying off hundreds of employees. Hundreds of employees will be subject to layoff.

In a published statement, the company noted, "Gold’s Gym has been the world’s trusted fitness authority for more than 50 years, and we’re absolutely not going anywhere. While the COVID-19-related closures have caused us to reassess the viability of some company-owned locations and make the difficult decision to permanently close about 30 gyms, we know that we will emerge from this stronger and ready to grow. This decision affects only company-owned gyms and does not have an impact on any of our franchisee-owned gyms."

As for the temporary closures of other corporate locations, company CEO Adam Zeitsiff noted, "This is not a business decision but a humanity decision/ We want to protect our community and people of all ages by doing what we can to flatten the disease's curve. To fight this virus, we have to stand firm with everyone who is working to contain the spread. We are truly stronger together."

It appears that the COVID-19 pandemic might have a major effect on the company’s revenues as individuals decide they no longer need a full-time gym membership or have found alternative exercise sources. Since most fitness operations are dodgy when it comes to cancelations and refunds, cashflow can be severely impacted in the future should refunds become mandatory under state law.

To offset potential losses to at-home exercisers, the company is offering "free premium access for members and non-members to GOLD'S AMP, the company's digital personal training app, through May 31, 2020."

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT CERNER CORPORATION - ADVENTIST HEALTH

North Kansas City, Missouri-based Cerner Corporation, information technology company operating in the healthcare sector, has announced that it will be laying off 180 employees as a result of a rift in their partnership with Adventist Health. 163 Cerner employees located at Adventist Health in Bakersfield, California and 25 employees located at Adventist Health in Tehachapi, California are scheduled to be laid off in December, 2019 after the formal end to the partnership in November, 2019. Most of the positions relate to Adventist’s revenue processing function and include patient access representatives, medical coders, health information retrieval technicians, specialists, and supervisors.

According to an Adventist Health spokesperson, “Adventist Health will be transitioning all revenue cycle operations from Cerner to Huron effective November 4, 2019 to best meet the timely needs of our patients and the communities we serve. This transition is the result of our commitment to being good stewards of our mission and values. Cerner will remain as Adventist Health’s partner for the electronic medical record and integrated revenue cycle solutions and will continue to support care transformation functions.”

Adventist Health previously transferred 275 jobs, 190 in IT and 85 in revenue processing and management, from its headquarters location in Roseville, California to Cerner Corporation in January 2018. At that time, employees were provided with a warning about future job stability. According to Adventist President Bill Wing, “In the short term, nothing changes. What it means over time is harder to predict. We’ll continue to innovate and they’ll continue to need to manage that innovation. While Cerner is expected to retain all 275 jobs long term, the nature of these jobs may change as the partnership evolves.”

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?