SILER CITY — Zone Fitness and Tanning in Siler City is closing its doors.
Christina Fisher, who has owned the business for five years, says the decision to close was a “personal” one. Fisher also owns the property where the gym is located and an adjacent building, located at 308 and 223 West Raleigh Street in Siler City, respectively.
“I just realized that sometimes you can anticipate changes in your life and sometimes you can’t,” Fisher said. “At this point in my life, I live on 17 acres that I pretty much maintain myself. Got a lot of responsibilities that are very physical in nature.”
Fisher decided she just “didn’t want to be in the gym anymore.”
While COVID-19 was not the main factor in her decision, she said that having to close initially because of restrictions due to COVID provided her time to reflect on what she wanted to do in life and what direction she wanted to go. But those restrictions did play a role.
“I tried to wrap my mind around how I would have to operate as a gym [during COVID],” Fisher said. “That’s still an unknown. Like what additional expense in terms of materials and time. And is it possible at all to have it to a standard that keeps members comfortable. I don’t know. There’s a lot of questions I can’t answer.”
In regards to the business and the building, Fisher said she’s been looking at “all avenues.” She originally asked someone to operate the gym for her, but the person declined, noting economic concerns around COVID-19. Though Fisher notes she has “a lot of options” since she owns the property, she would prefer to sell the properties and the business. She said that she reached out to several members of the gym to see if they would be interested and is hopeful that there is the “potential that someone may buy the business and keep it going.”
“I would prefer to sell the business, but I also am not going to dilly-dally with this,” Fisher said. “I don’t operate that way. I’m not going to let my building sit empty either. I will do something with it if it doesn’t sell. I’m hoping that these people I’m talking to are serious, then I’ll hold off selling equipment.”
Fisher is also refunding memberships to the 315 gym members pro-rated based on how much time was remaining on their membership. She will be at Zone Fitness and Tan every from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. for the next several Saturdays to allow members the opportunity to receive their refunds. In addition, equipment will also be available for purchase on those days.
Even though she’s closing the business, Fisher reiterated that her reasons were “not strictly COVID.”
“It’s me wanting to go in a different direction,” Fisher said. “I’ve been wanting to go back to what I did previously [which was corporate training] for a few different reasons. It’s based on where I’m at in my life.”
“I hope everyone understands why the decision is being made,” Fisher said. “I’m trying to handle this in the best way possible and taking steps in the way I’m doing it. I hope they understand.”
Casey Mann can be reached at CaseyMann@Chathamnr.com.