There was no notice and no warning, not even the staff members saw it coming. Rumors started flying Wednesday evening that the three locations of the Women's Fitness Company were closing on Saturday.
LaRaba Senussi, manager of the Arlington facility said that they had approximately 25 employees in the three locations, Belle Haven, Arlington, and Springfield, but the staff only got notified last Wednesday.
"They didn't even give us two weeks notice," she said.
Former manager Homaira Yazandi, who left in June, said, "It was very unstable. Nobody was leading us, we were on our own. Sales were slow, but I didn't think it was going to go out of business."
LaRaba said that owner, Susan Charles, took over the operation in 1998 after Spa Lady went belly up. This was verified by the landlord at the Belle Haven center, Kurt Kranz. He was only notified of the closing on Friday just like everybody else.
"I thought that business was brisk, there must have been problems somewhere else," said Kranz.
The space is now available for lease, as are the spaces in Arlington and Springfield. All the equipment was auctioned off by R.L. Rasmus Auctioneers, Inc. on Tuesday.
THE DOORS TO the Women's Fitness Center ended up closing even earlier than originally stated. On Friday, Judy Kee said that she came for the yoga class which is held at noon. She was early and came in while an aerobics class was going on.
"They stopped the class right in the middle," said Kee, who was one of the last to leave when they shut down the doors shortly thereafter.
Most members found out that the club was closed when they showed up for a class and saw the sign. Realizing that this might be the case, Susan Young and Jennifer Rapchak went to the center Saturday morning to let their students know what was going on, at least as much as they knew. They didn't know much. Young said that she was surprised because they [the club] had just bought new equipment and said, "There were always new people signing up."
Young and Rapchak felt that they owed it to their students to be there. After all, Young started teaching classes in 1989, back when the center was called Spa Lady; Rapchak has been teaching for seven years.
One of their students, Margaret Evans-Joyce came by and said that Young and Rapchak were the best instructors, "extremely tough."
"It's disappointing; this [shopping center] was such a nice welcoming unit. It was all inclusive and so convenient."
Young and Rapchak said that they received paychecks for June, but aren't so sure if they'll receive one for July.
SINCE THE CLUB closed, employees and members have been trying to determine what happened and if they will receive any compensation for their memberships.
A series of handwritten notes have been attached to the door advising members to call Consumer Affairs, 1-800-552-9963. Greg Reynolds, a senior investigator in the consumer affairs health club division, said that members can file a formal complaint form; they need to have a copy of their contract, proof of purchase and their social security number.
Members can get a complaint faxed or mailed to them by calling the above number. They can also print a form from the web site, www.vdacs.state.va.us (click on consumer complaint form).
Reynolds said that they will gather all the complaints from the three spas and then set a cut-off date when they won't accept any more forms. They will then disperse the money put aside by the health club to the members; this fund is something that is required by health clubs.
"I Don't expect anybody to get too much, it's usually a long drawn-out procedure," said Reynolds.
The amount estimated that is available for reimbursement is about $40,000 — not much considering that memberships were being taken up to the last day.
Inez Mayes has been a member for five year. Last August she paid an additional $232 for a two-year membership renewal. She was not told of any refunds. She said, "I'm very shocked. We didn't know anything was wrong until yesterday [last Thursday]."
Another member paid $600 for a two-year contract. Since the payments were made through American Express, she counted on being able to file a dispute. Unfortunately, the payments were made in January and February, and disputes have to be filed within 60 days. Members who have paid more recently via credit card might have some recourse and should contact the corresponding company.
Eileen Mengers paid $311.25 for a two-year renewal contract.
"I've been burned before, although not with this company," she said. She wasn't excited about the fact that members' contracts were being accepted (with a small payment) at the Olympus Gym locations in Falls Church and Burke. "If it's not convenient, it's not worth anything," she said.
OTHER MEMBERS, however, are taking advantage of the arrangement with Olympus (703-241-2255). Personal trainer Buddy Klemek said, "We're getting a ton of them. Members have been coming in all weekend."
According to Klemek, members will be allowed to transfer their contracts for $10 a month for the first 12 months, and $29.95 for the balance of the contract. After that, they will be offered a two-year contract at the rate of $29.95 a month.
Most of these amounts would not be pre-paid. Klemek said that only 10-15 percent of Olympus' memberships are pre-paid. This is because the State of Virginia requires health clubs to post a bond for every pre-paid member. Since most reputable health clubs donít want to post so much money, they keep a low ratio of pre-paid memberships.
Olympus owner Dave Weber said that he was contacted by a member of Charles' organization a couple of weeks ago, saying that the clubs were having some difficulties and weren't going to be able to survive. They asked Weber if he would consider taking over their memberships if they closed. Members who were paying monthly would continue to pay, and Weber's organization would get a percentage of that.
Thinking that their ratio was similar to his, he agreed. As it turns out, the percentage of pre-paid memberships from the Women's Fitness Center was closer to 85 percent. That means that only 15 percent are monthly.
"There were a large number of members who had paid in advance," said Weber.
This means that the revenue Weber will receive from monthly members will be negligible, yet Weber still agreed to take in the members, charging the nominal amount.
He feels that this is "really another black eye for the business" and is sorry that it had to happen. His understanding is that Charles is having medical and legal problems and is unable to continue with the business. Perhaps the fact that the club's registration renewal was due in July was enough to trigger the closure.
"We're trying to make this as painless as possible. It's been a long hard time for people lately, losing money in the stock market, their confidence is diminished. We're trying to work things out. Nobody likes to see people taken advantage of," said Weber.
Another way Weber is helping out is by interviewing some of the people who have lost their jobs.
"I told the bookkeeper [from Women's Fitness Club] to let managers and instructors know that we're interested in interviewing them," he said.
NOT ONLY ARE staff members affected but also the people who used the facilities for services are out of a job as well.
Linda MacDonald is a massage therapist who has used the facilities at Women's Fitness Club in Belle Haven for years. She saw the problems with the owner first-hand.
"She was rough on people when she was in one of her states. When she was good, she was very, very good," said MacDonald, who considered leaving the facilities several times, but remained when things settled down.
Charles was unavailable for comment on this story.
MacDonald has since relocated her business to Barrister Square Wellness Center. Appointments can be scheduled by calling 301-444-2379.
Other local clubs, such as Mount Vernon Health and Racquet Club (703-360-7300) and Gold's Gym (703-360-1400), are offering promotional deals for Women's Fitness Club members. They have been handing out flyers to members as they show up at the various locations. Curves (703-751-2500), which just opened on Duke Street in Alexandria, is also offering a special deal to Women's Fitness Club members.