Fitness Chain Blink Files for Bankruptcy and Quickly Seeks Buyer

Blink Fitness filed for bankruptcy on Monday and wants to quickly find a new buyer.

The Equinox-owned chain has more than $280 million in debt, according to a Chapter 11 petition filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Blink also reported between $100 million and $500 million in assets and liabilities.

Blink blamed the negative impacts from the pandemic — which kept gyms closed for months — for the bankruptcy. It said in a statement that it will continue to operate its approximately 100 fitness centers across the country while it uses $21 million in financing from existing lenders to seek a new buyer.

In the Monday court filing, Steven Shenker, chief restructuring officer at Blink, said the company has already gotten a lot of interest from potential buyers, Reuters reported.

“Over the last several months, we have been focused on strengthening Blink’s financial foundation and positioning the business for long-term success,” Blink President and CEO Guy Harkless said in a statement. “We look forward to emerging from this process as an even stronger business.”

Despite its mounting debt, Blink pumped money into its most popular locations in the first half of the year, purchasing new gym equipment and updating its interiors. Meanwhile, Blink’s revenue increased by nearly 40 percent over the past two years, the company said.

The New York-based Blink has about 2,000 employees and locations in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas, Illinois and California. Blink describes its fitness centers as “all-inclusive,” with membership prices between $15 and $45 per month.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, a number of gyms went bankrupt, including 24 Hour Fitness, Gold’s Gym and Town Sports International. Equinox secured about $1.8 billion in capital to refinance its debt maturities in March.

Equinox made headlines early during the pandemic after it informed the owners of over 300 locations that it would not pay April 2020 rent because it had to temporarily close sites, Commercial Observer previously reported. That came before the high-end gym chain was hit with about $1 million in lawsuits in 2021 for unpaid rent at its New York locations.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.