F45 Taree shuts down as gyms in the embattled fitness empire continue to collapse

Another F45 gym has quietly closed is doors, adding to an already long list of defunct franchises involved in the embattled fitness chain.

Another F45 gym has quietly closed down, adding to an already long list of defunct franchises involved in the embattled fitness chain.

News.com.au can reveal that an independently owned gym in the mid north coast of NSW has shut down.

One of the co-owners of the F45 gym in Taree, in coastal NSW, confirmed to news.com.au that the business had closed its doors.

They declined to comment any further.

A local said the closure occurred around three weeks ago and that the business had lasted for less than a year.

Meanwhile, two F45 gyms in the Gold Coast with the same owner merged together, with the lease for one now listed on real estate websites.

It comes as news.com.au has revealed that more than a dozen gyms in the Australian chain known for its 45-minute high intensity interval training (HIIT) classes have collapsed in the last year.

Last week, four F45 gyms in Queensland and far north NSW appointed restructuring partners while a rival to the fitness business claimed there are currently 151 distressed F45 locations up for sale across the country with some F45 owners just looking to surrender their lease for no cost.

The premises of F45 Carrara are listed for lease.

The F45 Carrara owner said their business is thriving after merging with F45 Nerang.

F45 Carrara, in the Gold Coast, has permanently closed down, with its location up for lease.

The Carrara gym has merged with the nearby F45 Nerang.

Indeed, visitors to the company’s still-live social media pages are being redirected to the F45 Nerang franchise.

The owner told news.com.au that the closure occurred 18 months ago when their lease was up for renewal and they decided not to renew it.

“We were at the end of our lease and it made commercial sense,” they said.

They said it was a good business decision which has netted them more than 350 members at the Nerang site and they claimed to be one of the largest functional gyms on the Gold Coast.

The realtor selling the lease said a motorcycle training business was opening up in the location.

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The toilet of the “for lease” premises that previously housed an F45 business.

An F45 gym that converted into another business in NSW.

It’s the latest spot of trouble to hit the embattled brand amid multiple class actions from investors, mass board resignations and in a blow from last month, the brand being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

One broker claimed that 151 distressed F45 franchisees were trying to sell up their businesses.

That means almost 30 per cent of F45’s gyms are up for sale, as the brand has nearly 500 across Australia.

It’s also a massive spike since March, when news.com.au reported that 48 F45 gyms had been listed on sales website anybusiness.com.

F45 head office’s new CEO, Tom Dowd, said to news.com.au in a previous statement that the business was “prepared to shrink to grow”.

They said “Closing unproductive locations to add value to existing studios strengthens our system”.

In this way, the F45 boss claims that they had managed to “avoid over-saturation”.

“We are focused and committed to supporting our franchise network – their operational success helps ensure the entire system gets stronger.”

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Originally published as F45 Taree shuts down as gyms in the embattled fitness empire continue to collapse