Gyms across the country have been shut down as people stay at home to reduce the spread of the pandemic.
Bay Area counties were among the first to order residents to shelter in place and tell businesses including gyms to shut down, and it did not take long for fitness enthusiasts to make other plans.
“Once we got shut down people realized ‘well I can’t go to the gym, I need some fitness equipment for home’ so the phone started ringing the day after the shut down,” says Joe Gigantino, owner of Weights and Bars, a San Jose based exercise equipment supplier.
He says much of the equipment is manufactured in China, which was hit first by the virus, so backlogs have mounted. Some equipment will not be available until the fall.
He says big box gyms likely have enough space to institute social distancing, once gyms in California are allowed to re-open. But they may not see all of their clients return.
“People that are buying equipment now are using it as a stopgap until the gyms reopen,” says Gigantino. “And some will decide ‘hey I really like working out at home and it’s more convenient’.”
Small business owners will have to get more creative, like Amy Ellingson who owns INSPIRe Pilates in St. Helena. Her small studio had five pilates reformers when the pandemic hit, and she has found a new way to earn some revenue by renting out two of the machines. She and a friend delivered the machines to her clients homes.
“They’re paying me rent and I Zoom them twice a week, and they are able to work out as much as they want at home,” says Ellington. “Because they have the machines I can look at them - they set it up so I can see their whole body. I can see doing that more, even when this is all over.”
The money she makes from leasing out the equipment is enough to cover the rent she owes on her office. And with two fewer machines in the studio, she now has enough room to hold classes while adhering to social distancing protocols once she is allowed to re-open.
But that may not be for a while, as Governor Gavin Newsom says gyms re-opening is months away.