Amherst, NY (WBEN) - Faced with new mandates on masking, and potentially more in the future, many businesses are looking to avoid repeating the lost business they saw this time last year.
That especially goes for gyms in Erie County, who are now faced with a choice to either require masks or vaccination proof from their members.
"I have to lay there in bed sleep less thinking how can I make this work, and how can I make most of my members happy on both ends," said Catalyst Fitness Owner Amy Bueme.
Bueme said that her business is in a unique position, because of its multiple locations, to try and keep as many members as possible happy while still complying with the County's mandate.
"I figured if I can take my biggest facility, which was Maple, and I can say vaccination only.... you can come in and work out with no mask," Bueme said. "My other six facilities, I'm going to keep the mask on and follow the mandate. I'm going to see how this goes and go from there."
"I'm going to give people that are vaccinated a chance not to wear a mask, and people who don't want to talk about it or aren't vaccinated they wear a mask but still stay healthy and keep their fitness routine up."
Many smaller gyms that are also part of the New York State Fitness Alliance have decided to require proof of vaccination because of feedback from their members.
