Blink Fitness’s Manhattan Gyms Will Stay Open After Ch. 11 Bankruptcy

Blink Fitness, the nationwide gym chain with 11 locations in Manhattan, will reportedly keep its doors open to members while looking to restructure under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Blink, which prides itself on its discount offerings, is owned by the ritzier fitness behemoth Equinox. Its headquarters are located in NoMad.

“Over the last several months, we have been focused on strengthening Blink’s financial foundation and positioning the business for long-term success,” Blink CEO Guy Harkless said in a statement. “After evaluating our options, the Board and management team determined that using the court-supervised process to optimize the Company’s footprint and effectuate a sale of the business is the best path forward for Blink and will help ensure Blink remains the destination for all people seeking an inclusive, community-focused gym.”

Under the terms of Chapter 11, a company can continue to operate while it comes to terms with its creditors. Blink’s Manhattan gyms can be found in or at: Bryant Park, Chelsea, Murray Hill, Grand Central, 54th St., 116th St., FiDi, 125th St., NoHo, the East Village, and Washington Heights.

”We look forward to emerging from this process as an even stronger business,” Harkless added.

Blink Fitness, which offers “tiers” of service that cost between $15 and $45 per month, employs 2,074 employees. None of them belong to a union. As of June 2024, it had 443,000 members, bankruptcy filings reviewed by Straus News showed. Generation Z, or people born between 1997 and 2012, are reportedly targeted heavily by the company’s marketers. People under the age of 35 constitute 65 percent of the company’s membership base, the filings add.

The filings also reveal that Blink has a total of $280 million in outstanding debt obligations; $161.4 of that takes the form of asset-secured debt to outside lenders represented by Varagon Capital Partners Agent LLC, $103.5 million is in the form of unsecured loans from Equinox itself, and another $15.9 million comes from trade debt. The filings elaborate that this “trade debt” encompasses obligations stemming from equipment lender debt, lawsuits, and owed rent. The secured debt obligations are also set to mature in November, which made restructuring more pressing.

Rent is cited in the filings as a main source of Blink’s bankruptcy decision. The gym franchise has reportedly experienced “burdensome lease deferral obligations” stemming from the COVID-19 lockdown measures that began in 2020, which reportedly affected Blink’s revenue for about nine months.

The filings stressed that Blink’s revenue has recovered more recently. Since the beginning of this year, total revenue has reportedly increased by five percent, and “average revenue per member” is up by more than 10 percent. Blink has also recently reinvested funds into its gyms, or fitness clubs, which the filings note has drastically improved advertising metrics.

The filings were careful to clarify that the Equinox Group, Blink’s parent company, is not filing for bankruptcy protection. The Equinox brand underwent a $1.8 billion funding cycle in March, however, to better service $1.2 billion in debt. Outside of owning Blink Fitness and Equinox, the Equinox Group also boasts SoulCycle and Pure Yoga as part of its portfolio.