WAUKESHA — Amy Beckman found the Waukesha Xperience Fitness to be convenient due to the proximity to her house.

“It was just so convenient. That for some reason is what got me going,” Beckman said, a member of the business since 2016.

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During the pandemic it closed and she had to find another gym. However, she never went. There was something about the Waukesha location that was a good fit for Beckman.

Xperience Fitness announced on June 30 it was permanently closing all of its fitness clubs in Wisconsin.

The fitness club posted on social media with the announcement. Customers’ memberships were automatically transferred to Planet Fitness. Beckman found out through her college-aged son and at first brushed it off as hearsay. A couple of hours later she got an email from Xperience announcing the closing.

“This is going to sound silly but I was devastated. It was my go-to. I’ve belonged to other gyms since I was in college. I wasn’t as reliable about going as I was at Xperience,” she said.

It was a good fit for her to get a workout in and leave. She has worked with personal trainers and used other perks of the facility. Her family felt the equipment and layout were a better fit.

Another perk was all the membership rewards she racked up to use for her sons to work out at the location, which she said are now useless.

“We are kind of floundering. I came home from work yesterday and I just wanted to go to my gym and I can’t,” Beckman said.

Austin Mattson was a member with Xperience Fitness until he left to serve in the military in Germany for over two years. Mattson’s husband still had a membership with the gym. He rejoined again in November because he liked many of the facility’s amenities, such as a sauna and pool and better equipment to do squats. His relationship with the club has been on and off since first joining a gym back in high school.

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Mattson was rather taken aback when he found out the club had abruptly closed.

“There was no email or call. To this day I still haven’t gotten a call saying hey we are closing and moving your membership. I have received nothing from them,” he said.

Mattson said at the bare minimum Xperience should have explained how customers can avoid switching over to Planet Fitness.

“I’m not moving over to Planet Fitness. I already made arrangements with the WAC (Wisconsin Athletic Club). I don’t even know how to make sure I don’t get charged from Planet Fitness,” he said. Like other customers he is shocked at how the club was able to transfer over people’s bank information to another company with no user agreement.

Mattson said he was just charged from Xperience on June 26 and to him that means he should have another month of using the facility.

“Clearly I’m not going to get up until July 26 of gym use,” he said.

There are unknowns such as how Planet Fitness bills, monthly fees and when they will be charged. Most importantly is how to cancel the membership.

Mattson said what he wants is some communication from Xperience or Planet Fitness noting this hasn’t been the best transition in membership. He also said instructions would be helpful with how to keep Planet Fitness membership or cancel.

“That is just the frustration with all of this. Such a lack of communication to any of the members who have been loyal for a long time,” Mattson said.

The signs were there

Total Flex Gym Owner James Newman has different gym memberships including with Xperience. Newman finds it easier to work out at other gyms to avoid distractions. He used to run training at Anytime Fitness in Waukesha County. It was through his years of training experience, as well as competing in strongman competitions, that led him open his own gym. He opened Total Flex Gym in the former Waukesha DMV building in 2019.

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Newman wasn’t as shocked about the closure of Xperience Clubs in Wisconsin as others were.

“I think because I’m a little more familiar with the industry, I knew they were closing but just didn’t know it was going to be that fast,” Newman said.

Newman opened his gym right after Gold’s Gym closed in Waukesha and there are signs he picked up that a gym was about to close.

“You could tell by the cleanliness of the gym, the lack of broken equipment being fixed, you could just see it going downhill, kids’ clubs closing and people quitting,” he said.

Newman guesses Xperience had 25,000 members at all five locations in Wisconsin who had to find another gym. He said the area has an over saturation of gyms with deals to entice memberships.

“There are a ton of gyms and there are more people than there are gyms. There is enough people to keep gyms open if they are operated properly,” Newman said.

Total Flex is open 24/7 unlike other gyms that may open at 7 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. His gym has a key fob system and motion sensors for people to come and go. Newman sees a lot of second- and third-shift first responders coming to his gym.

The closure of Xperience has helped the Waukesha business owner. Before he worked in security at night clubs and did other odd jobs in addition to his business. Since Xperience closed, he has over 70 new members.

“I actually quit my job at the night club on Saturday night due to the influx of Xperience customers,” Newman said.

The new business has allowed him to focus on the gym and still have spare time for his family.

Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHY