Kaua’i Athletic Club patron Lee Weiman admitted he emotionally struggled to deal with the county’s mandatory shutdown of the health club facility in mid-March.
Weiman, the General Manager of H Hawaii Media, a local group that operates a group of Kaua’i based radio stations, attempted to fill the void with outdoor activities.
Taking up hiking as an alternative couldn’t fill the void of weight resistance training for Weiman.
From mid-March to early June, he dealt with his loss of not exercising at the health club.
“It was a tough two months,” Weiman said. “I felt sorry for myself. But now we are back.”
Weiman, who exercises at the club three times a week, is feeling the relief.
“The club is a big part of my life,” Weiman said.
Kaua’i Athletic Club owner Josh Nations paid close attention to the state and national news at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anticipating the shutdown, Nations chose to shut the club down early in mid-March 17, and opened June 1.
In the fitness industry, safety and sanitation has always been priority number one,” Nations said. “We did do our research even deeper with the CDC and local government about the best practices in the industry.”
The KAC implemented a list of 10 safety and sanitation guidelines they’ve handed out to members.
Among them, they are requesting to utilize hand sanitizers during workouts, and limited personal items people can carry with them.
There will be no gym bags allowed in the facility, and showers are closed until further notice.
Restarting the business wasn’t easy, and neither was maintaining it during the shutdown, Nations said.
“Our business had to execute plan A, B, and C financially, and we were fortunate to come out of it unscathed,” Nations said. “Just like a lot of small businesses, there is a cash-flow business, and if you aren’t bringing in any revenue, you can be in trouble quick.”
KAC did receive a Paycheck Protection Loan and qualified for a Small Business Administration Loan reserved for the disaster loan program, so the KAC retained all of its full-time and part-time employees.
Because of these loans, KAC is working on expanding its business, with plans to open up a 5,200 square foot facility in the shopping center next to Kilauea Market.
“We signed a lease a month before the pandemic, and were able to access funds to open a third facility,” Nations said. “We didn’t have to tap into funds for our existing two facilities and still had funds to keep the new location on track to open Oct. 1.”
One rule that Nations implemented for the protection of his members affected the company’s bottom line.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the club would allow visitor’s passes.
Nations said the passes were a significant revenue generator for the club.
They are all focusing more on online courses utilizing applications like Zoom to teach classes to their members and looking into implementing more virtual paths in the future.
Nations feel the future is bright for his business as he continues to expand.
“There are many independent and mainland corporate chains that filed for bankruptcy,” Nations said. “Speaking generally, we followed the state and local guidelines of what type of business, and we complied with our community’s safety and our members.”
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Jason Blasco, sports reporter, can be reached at 652-2229 or at jblasco@thegardenisland.com.
Source: The Garden Island
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