NC gyms will stay closed for at least 5 more weeks. Some owners worry about survival.

The United States’ pandemic chronicles will include a recounting of closed gyms, disrupted exercise routines, and small business owners trying to adapt.

Gov. Roy Cooper this week made clear what some gym owners knew was coming, that they would not get the okay to reopen. Gyms and bars, which have been closed since mid-March, will remain closed through at least Sept. 11.

“I get it,” said Kenny Williams, owner of Pride Boxing & Fitness in Garner. “I know people who have contracted COVID. My issue is, why is it just gyms and bars?”

Wednesday, Cooper extended Phase Two of the state’s reopening plan another five weeks — the third time he has extended an executive order that puts restrictions on gatherings indoors and outdoors.

The state has been in Phase Two of COVID-19 restrictions on business and leisure activity since May 22. That includes capacity limits in retail stores and other businesses, and it keeps bars, gyms, entertainment venues and other establishments closed.

Williams said he is frustrated that gyms and bars are being told to stay closed while other businesses have reopened. Gyms are open in other states, and he believes he can operate safely if allowed to open, Williams said. He also has seen social media posts from North Carolina gyms that are openly defying the shutdown.

Earlier this spring, Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, said gyms are prone to spreading COVID-19 — a virus that’s spread through airborne droplets, The News & Observer previously reported. Cohen said people are less likely to wear face coverings while they’re exercising.

“It’s not an issue related to sweat,” Cohen said at a May press conference. “It is really more about the heavier breathing that you do naturally when you are doing any of the athletics in a gym setting.”

Republican legislators have criticized Cooper’s reopening plans and have passed bills that would have allowed gyms, amusement parks, bars and other businesses to reopen. Cooper has vetoed those.

Adapting to survive

In the meantime, like some other gym owners, he has tried to adapt by offering small outdoor classes or going to people’s homes. But many gym and fitness studio owners worry about how much longer they can stay open.

Williams’ landlord is being flexible about the rent, he said, allowing him to pay what he can. But he doesn’t know for sure how much longer that’s going to last.

“If we’re serious about putting a halt to this thing, why not go back to Phase One? I can’t make money. I’m driving around everywhere and I’m watching everybody else make it.”

Some gym and yoga studio owners have moved operations outdoors or online.

Monica Shannon, owner of Open Door Yoga, closed the door to the studio in downtown Raleigh on March 16. The closing turned out to be permanent.

In late May, she decided to get out of the lease for the space she had used for about 14 years. The pandemic was part of the decision to close the studio, but the death of George Floyd was a factor, too, Shannon said. It felt like the wrong time to focus energy on keeping the business open.

“It was deeper, existential things,” she said. Rather than getting a business loan, “what else can we do right now rather than just be one more person who wants what they want, because of money?”

She started online classes soon after she closed the studio in March, but classes alone never covered all the expenses. Revenue was down 85%.

She has continued the online classes with regular customers still logging on, Shannon said, while others haven’t returned. The studio featured heated yoga classes that many students used for exercise.

“A lot of people say they can’t do online stuff, canceled and moved on, which is completely understandable,” she said.

Research Triangle Fencing has gone from about 50 adults and children working at its gym in Durham every week to a half-dozen teenagers who train outside at 8 a.m.

“We’re kind of like an internet company, all expenses, no revenue,” said Darius Wei, a business co-owner who is also an assistant coach at Duke University.

Wei said he’s heard about other gyms using loopholes to open, but he’s not interested in skirting the rules.

“On one hand, I’m feeling the lack of revenue — I’m feeling my bottom line a little bit,” he said. But I think it’s important to do the right thing and try to control this stuff. I’d like everybody to survive.

“Getting the stuff nipped in the bud is the largest, most important thing, as much as I’d like to be open,” he said. “The way to get the economy open is to get the virus under control.”