A Popular American Gym Chain Just Filed For Bankruptcy And Store Closures Could Be Coming

In recent years, there has been an increase in bankruptcy filings for both retail and restaurant chains in the United States. These companies range from lesser-known shoe retail chains like Soleply, to more well known and beloved restaurant chains like Red Lobster. The reasons behind this increase in bankruptcy filings is due to a variety of factors such as inflation and tightening economic conditions post-Pandemic. However, while retail and especially restaurant chain bankruptcy filings are becoming more common, there is one particular business type that has largely avoided such financial misfortune: gyms.

According to a report from the Health & Fitness Association, the number of gym memberships increased by 20% in the United States between 2019 and 2024. This can arguably be attributed to the growing trend of Americans becoming increasingly health-conscious in recent years. Regardless, Gold's Gym appears to have failed to properly take advantage of this health and wellness revolution. In fact, two of their locations in El Paso, Texas recently announced they are shutting down after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. While the reason behind these particular location closures is tied to a specific franchisee, it's worth noting that this isn't the first time the Gold's Gym company has faced bankruptcy.

One of the two closing Gold's Gym locations was relatively new, which added to the shock and confusion of Gold's Gym members in El Paso. That said, the exact reason why these two facilities were closing down wasn't made clear to members. In fact, according to Men's Journal, the only explanation offered was on signs posted on the doors of these gym locations, that merely cited "unforeseen circumstances."

However, it's worth noting that both of these Gold's Gym facilities were owned by a company known as RCJ2 Enterprises, LLC — which officially filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 30, 2025. According to the IRS, Chapter 7 bankruptcy is an option when the filer is unable to make regular payments toward their debts. This being the case, it appears that these closures are more of an isolated incident caused by financial difficulties of one Gold's Gym franchisee as opposed to a larger bankruptcy filing on behalf of the company. However, this does mark the exit of Gold's Gym from the El Paso area.

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, gyms were hit hard by nationwide lockdowns. Since the financial success of gyms generally requires people to pay for memberships, physically show up, and even buy products and services from their gym — one of the many sneaky ways that gyms trick you into spending more money – lockdowns effectively eliminated income streams for most facilities. This led to the Gold's Gym company, not a franchisee, having to close 30 of their locations before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2020. However, the company's bankruptcy filing was a means of protecting their business from further financial losses due to pandemic related issues, and as a result the company has stuck around.

Gold's Gym recovered from their pandemic-related financial difficulties after being acquired by RSG Group for $100 million in the summer of 2020. This buyout allowed the company to continue to operate, and as of today, Gold's Gym remains one of the largest gym chains in the world with over 700 locations globally, and 200 locations in the United States.