SAN MARCOS — More businesses in San Diego County reopened their doors this week. As of June 12, gyms, hotels, bars and wineries are part of the list of businesses that can accept customers again, provided they follow the county’s safety guidelines.
In San Marcos, Crunch Fitness and LA Fitness opened their doors last Friday, while the city’s 24 Hour Fitness announced it is permanently closing its San Marcos location, along with three other San Diego-area locations, amid bankruptcy.
“If it were not for COVID-19 and its devastating effects, we would not be filing for Chapter 11,” CEO Tony Ueber said in a statement. “We expect to have substantial financing with a path to restructuring our balance sheet and operations to ensure a resilient future.”
Gyms and other fitness facilities are following the county’s safe reopening plan and changing daily operations to fit the new health and safety requirements brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both Crunch Fitness and LA Fitness have committed to more frequent cleaning and sanitation practices, the use of masks and gloves by employees, daily temperature screenings of employees and the implementation of social distancing guidelines throughout the facilities.
Members are required to wear a mask when not exercising and to limit their workout time to 60 minutes in order to accommodate others. They are also asked to wipe down equipment before and after use.
Mike Stevens, general manager of Crunch Fitness in San Marcos, told The Coast News that they have also limited their capacity to 70 people, compared to their usual capacity of 337.
“It’s been super busy, and super high energy,” Stevens said. “We’ve had a lot of people signing up for memberships and we’re just assuring everyone that we are doing everything we can to keep them safe and satisfied.”
Both Crunch and LA Fitness in San Marcos are experiencing high volumes of members excited to finally get to back to the gym and new customers who want to get started.
“I’ve opened up a few gyms before and I’d say the excitement level here feels just like opening up a brand new gym,” Stevens said. “It’s very cool to see, and we’re very happy to back.”
The next phase in the county’s reopening process was announced last week with nail salons, massage and tattoo parlors, and personal care businesses such as waxing, set to begin reopening June 19.
