The Punahou Fitness Center has succumbed to the heavy weight of competition … again.
After nearly 21⁄2 years, owner Jason Maxwell closed the gym at 1212 Punahou St. on Saturday.
"It just got really overwhelming running this place. I bit off more than I could chew," he said. "I spent a lot more money than I had, and I’m going to end up filing bankruptcy. I made some mistakes, and financially it ended up catching up to me."
The center —which originally opened in 1974 — has seen a dramatic increase in competition from larger chains such as 24 Hour Fitness as well as smaller outdoor "boot camps" and Crossfit training warehouses.
The club had about 700 members, including about 500 who paid for yearly memberships. Maxwell said he stopped billing people once he realized the business wouldn’t survive, about two to three weeks ago.
Maxwell, who ran the business with his sister and one other employee, said he has found a group of investors to take over his lease and is trying his best to work out a deal for at least partial credits for his members at the new facility.
"I’m doing my best to remedy some part of their existing memberships. I don’t know how much, but I’ll make sure they’ll get something," he said. "I apologize to members."
"I’m let down by the closure, but I hope they honor the memberships," said Alan Poepoe, who bought an annual membership during a special last fall and has been going to the Punahou gym since the 1990s. "I would look forward to trying the new reincarnation of the gym when it happens."
Stephen Levins, executive director of the Office of Consumer Protection, said the state will be looking into the circumstances in which the company closed.
"Some businesses are much more upfront about it than others," Levins said. "There were cases in the past where a health club was taking money up until a few hours of its closure. That’s sort of an extreme situation, so we’ll look into this and try to make sure that consumers are protected to the full extent of the law."
After four to six weeks of renovations, the new group of investors plans to reopen the center as Volcanic Climbing and Fitness, with the same amenities plus an indoor rock-climbing wall.
The investor group is represented by venture capitalist Marshall Wells.
The new owners will invest more than $300,000 in renovations and gym equipment, Wells said.
"The reason why some of these gyms are closing is the same movie over again. But we feel this location actually brings something to the table that other places don’t offer," he said, including an "aggressive indoor rock-climbing wall" in a space that can be adapted for something else in the future when the trend subsides.
The new company will do "whatever we can that’s fair" to retain existing members but won’t be able to honor the entire amount people paid, "otherwise it just won’t work out," Wells added.
"We don’t want to run into the same problem (as Maxwell) again two years down the road," he said. "That’s why we want to have a more viable plan that keeps this place open for a long time. Hopefully we’ll be the last owner."
Among his misjudgments, Maxwell said, he tried to honor about 300 to 400 existing memberships when taking over the club in October 2012 from then-owner Trisys Hawaii Corp., which put him in the hole from the start.
"I tried to be the good guy (but that wasn’t viable). You don’t realize when you’re doing it until it’s too late," said Maxwell.
In addition, Maxwell said, he started off with pricing that was too low and had to max out his own credit in order to keep operations afloat.
Monthly membership started at about $40, with $20 to add on another member, while annual membership cost roughly $400. He tried to increase prices to $60 a month and $600 a year toward the end, but it wasn’t enough to boost monthly revenue, which totaled just $10,000 while expenses were about $40,000, Maxwell said, adding that he lost about $600,000 over the past few years.
The new facility will charge between $85 and $100 month, Wells said.
The 10,000 square-foot gym’s amenities include a swimming pool and spa, Jacuzzi, ice plunge, steam room and sauna.
The center targeted the "mature crowd" — 40 years old and older — and has been like a second home, particularly for elderly members who live nearby and frequent it as part of their weekly routine.
Maxwell, a certified personal trainer, said he will continue on as manager of the new gym, though not as an owner. He was previously owner of Max Fitness Hawaii and served as the assistant general manager at Gold’s Gym before it closed in 2008.
"It’s a sad time for everybody. I lost a lot of money. The members have been through this with numerous owners. Two or three years just sucked me dry emotionally, spiritually and financially," Maxwell said. "I’m actually going to be standing in front of everybody. It’s going to be hard for me to re-sign them up again. I figured it was the best way to be honest, and I still want to be attached to my dream. This has been my dream for years. I don’t want to lose sight of everything I’ve done here."
