38 Replies to "West Seattle (Athletic) Club closed today, tomorrow, with change reported to be in the works"

• Ruth October 23, 2014 (12:43 pm)

  I certainly didn’t get the closure email, just went down to workout. Found moving truck & empty parking lot. Sad situation for all. My dues payment just went through yesterday for next month…Hmm. Any opinions out there on Anytime Fitness club?

• K October 23, 2014 (1:18 pm)

  Anytime Fitness is fantastic, and even moreso at the not so new location.

• A October 23, 2014 (3:47 pm)

  Yes go look into anytime fitness. The owners are from west Seattle and they live their patrons.

• Slong October 23, 2014 (4:18 pm)

  Moving party at the gym today, and helpfully LA Fitness had a tent across the street signing people up…

  • WSB October 23, 2014 (4:20 pm)

    Guess we missed that when we stopped by for a quick door photograph. There’s not much “across the street” around there, though. Either you’re in Nucor’s driveway, or you’re in the creek.

• Artimus Prime October 23, 2014 (4:50 pm)

  I saw the moving vans at the gym as well. If Sam Cook takes everything out that belongs to him, what does that leave the building owner? The whole situation stinks.

• K October 23, 2014 (4:58 pm)

  Have heard from instructors that they were told the landlord is planning to re-open this weekend after Sam ‘gets his stuff out’. Sounds like they’ll be going back to an empty building, but who knows.

• Petunia October 23, 2014 (5:09 pm)

  Anytime Fitness is fantastic!

• Jenfin October 23, 2014 (6:19 pm)

  Anytime fitness is fantastic! I joined when my membership at WSAC ended. Love it. Clean, new equipment, friendly staff (when staffed), never too crowded. It’s great!

• HC October 23, 2014 (6:22 pm)

  Try Snap Fitness in the Junction and their awesome trainer, DJ Ward.

• ChrisBean October 23, 2014 (6:57 pm)

  Sad. I was planning to go workout today, but good thing I didn’t. I never received an email from the gym about the closures. Not only do I pay for my membership, but I also pay for the childcare so my daughter can play in their kids club while I workout. I’ve enjoyed the facilities and would be disappointed if they shut down completely.

• linasenzerrose October 23, 2014 (7:03 pm)

  @ChrisBean my husband and I got a membership to the YMCA for many reasons, one of which was their childcare. My son, now 3.5 loves going to the Y to play. I never saw the childcare at WSAC, i belayed there years ago in exchange for a membership. It was okay there but, I LOVE the Y. It has been a much better fit for our family and the classes I have been to are excellent.

• supernova72 October 23, 2014 (7:17 pm)

  Hmm..so much for Yoga tomorrow right? If they are indeed moving equipment out I can’t see how they would get it up and running by Saturday?

  Wonder how the “billing” will work out us us auto pay folks. yikes…

• Hugh Jorgon October 23, 2014 (7:31 pm)

  Hey… the guy who owns the building has a vested interest in the club maintaining its membership unlike Sam Adams. Adams pulled money out each month and it doesn’t look like he paid a dime of rent this year.
  The building owner knew this was coming so renting or buying fitness equipment is pretty easy to do. Adams was pulling all his stuff out (a lot of it was junk) today and I’m fairly sure the new stuff will come in tomorrow.
  Truth is, it will likely get better.

• Marcus October 23, 2014 (8:17 pm)

  Don’t worry people, as the new manager of the West Seattle location I will make sure you are all in good hands here. I will discuss with my new boss about this and will honor all your memberships. That said, I am sad to see Mr Adams go. I would be happy to work for him again if he was to open up another club but for now you will be seeing me in the club just like before.

• EmilyN October 23, 2014 (8:22 pm)

  Any indication of Mr. Sam Adams just purchased Highline Athletic Club in Burien?

• m October 23, 2014 (9:29 pm)

  @ Marcus – Weren’t you the previous manager at one time or do I have you mixed up with someone else? Are you able to disclose who your new boss is? What is the status of current memberships? I’m a member and I’ve received no emails since Sam Adams has owned the club. The most disturbing thing about all of this has been the lack of transparency. The lack of communication does not make me feel very valued.

• Ben October 23, 2014 (9:37 pm)

  Sounds like they have the same management if this Marcus character is still running the place. I live around the corner and have been waiting over a year for this place to get into capable hands. I definitely will continue to drive to Ballard as long as Marcus is the manager.

• LazyFitGuy October 23, 2014 (9:58 pm)

  I’m interested to see what kind of equipment will be in the club on Saturday.
  As far a getting e-mails from Sam Adams or the lack of transparency…Was it really that difficult to see that this club was going in the tank? I mean all you had to do was look around. When equipment is not being fixed or replaced and TV’s mysteriously disappear every week…you know it’s coming. I don’t need the management to make me feel good, just need a good club with clean and working equipment and I’m happy. That’s it.

• GoBlue October 23, 2014 (10:34 pm)

  Marcus, I’m very happy to hear you are going to be managing the club…gives me hope. My question is about the Personal Trainers, are you going to keep them on? Austin is awesome and I know I can speak for many that if you don’t keep them on, we’ll be looking for our money back for any services we already paid for that you will not be able to honor…I personnaly paid for a specific trainer and increased the sessions with the expectation her and/or Wes’ services would be available. Oh and I too did not get any emails about the closures even though I’ve given my email address several times after not getting other notifications in the past…Hope you can get a better system in place with today’s technology.

• Gym member October 24, 2014 (6:50 am)

  I hope all the cool staff members in there will keep their jobs…
  The managers, front desk staff, accounting and cleaners are pretty much good hard working people who stuck by Adams through this…
  If the new owner is reading this please respect them and keep them in their jobs…

• JCWS October 24, 2014 (8:55 am)

  I did get the email about the closure, as did my husband and some friends. So maybe not everyone was in the new client system? I sincerely hope that new management can make this club work. The people there are really great, the facilities (when properly maintained) are great, and Austin is an AMAZING trainer and the gym would certainly not be the same without her there. If new management is reading this, classes, childcare, the pool and the people can really make this place shine.

• 935 October 24, 2014 (9:22 am)

  I hope the pretty smoothie/juice lady gets to stay.

• ChrisBean October 24, 2014 (9:38 am)

  @ linasenzerrose – thanks for the info. I’m going to keep the faith and see what happens. If the gym does close, I’ll give the Y a chance.

  I agree – the employees at the gym (at least the ones that I’ve interacted with) have been great. To be honest, if I didn’t keep up with the stories on WSB, I’d really not think anything “bad” was going on. I go to workout, bring my daughter to childcare, sometimes grab a smoothie when we leave and then repeat (as many times as I can in a week). I use the pool, locker room, 3rd floor, women’s area, classes and I frequent Emerald City Smoothie.

  @Marcus – please keep us posted regarding the gym re-opening and if the Kids Club will also be available. Most of the teachers there have been great and I’d hate to see them lose their jobs or not have a childcare facility at the gym. Thank you!

  • WSB October 24, 2014 (9:50 am)

    I should note here that we do have a request out with the property owner for comment whenever he is ready to say something about whatever transition seems to be in progress, and if we get any new information today, we’ll publish it as a separate story (and add the link here for anyone checking back on these comments). We’ll also go by at some point to see if the door sign is the same, but we are a micro-shop based in south West Seattle and even making that jaunt to North Delridge takes us away from other stuff for half an hour roundtrip, so any firsthand reports of new developments (including e-mail messaging) welcome – you can also text/call us at 206-293-6302 – thanks.

• Marcus October 24, 2014 (10:09 am)

  I plan on being at work Sunday, since the gym will be back open on Saturday according to the sign. My official title at the time under Sam was Membership Manager/Corporate Director.

  Not to sure about what the state of the inside of the gym will look like, we will all have to wait and see about that. I read that the landlord has a plan in place. He is also aware of building repairs and upgrades, which I am sure will get started on shortly. I am sure as soon as the court order change takes place, we will all be provided with information about it all. I am guessing they have not done so yet do to legal stuff. Some people who are lawyers reading this can probably get more into that since I am not a lawyer and have no clue.

  As far as the email blast thing the club did, often times it does not reach eerybody because of the volume of emails sent at one time, thats technology for you though. I did not get an email either nor have I been in the club since I was told I was not allowed in there Wed. morning.

  But I will keep you all posted.

• idi October 24, 2014 (10:11 am)

  Highline was just sold yes, but it was to somebody else.

• supernova72 October 24, 2014 (12:16 pm)

  Keeping the faith as well that the “new owner” will be legit and not a flash in the pan big name person who runs this facility completely into the ground.

  Earlier this month I joined the gym at my work as a backup plan (harder to workout there due to location but…). Didn’t think it might turn out to be my go to plan.

  Must admit after using the work gym a few times I have missed what a clean gym including showers was like. Also every machine worked and also safe to use.

  WSAC could be a very nice place with a little TLC. Cheers.

• mer October 24, 2014 (1:21 pm)

  Although I am sincerely sorry for all those effected, I am certainly glad the current tenant is out. My hubby and I were scammed into a membership with promises that never materialized. Broken old equipment and employees, that at times, did not show up to open, was not synonymous with the extremely high price.
  Peace out West Seattle Fitness! I hope to never see u on the flip side.

• johnm October 24, 2014 (2:45 pm)

  I am a gym member and live two blocks from the facility. I decided to go home for lunch and check the situation out. When I first drove by there were two trucks in the parking lot being loaded up. I later walked over with my dog and the trucks were gone but they were moving the spin bikes out onto the sidewalk. What was concerning is that the pool was half drained and there were a couple of objects that looked like small black tarps in the bottom of the pool. On my way back to work one of the trucks had returned but what was interesting is that there were now two SPD patrol cars in the lot. No lights flashing and parked normally but they were near the entrance not in the back of the lot. I will check on things again when I get home and I’ll head over in the morning to see what’s up. I’ll post anything of interest.

  • WSB October 24, 2014 (2:57 pm)

    John – We checked on the police cars. “Disturbance” but no arrests. I was going to mention it in an upcoming update – I’ve also checked with KCSO re: whether eviction papers might have been served, etc. – and still hoping to hear from the property owner if there is any news yet about what happens tomorrow. Thanks – TR

• piper October 24, 2014 (2:56 pm)

  this place was such a disaster. broken equipment, broken promises, and bogus “equipment improvement” charges. they couldn’t even keep the paper towel dispenser in the women’s locker room in working order, let alone larger pieces of equipment. i want out but am worried they will continue to charge my card. lots of horror stories on yelp regarding people trying to leave and not being successful getting the club to stop charging. i have never seen such a poorly managed club in my life. i used to see the cleaning woman in the locker room in the morning doing her hair and makeup instead of cleaning and when I’d ask for soap for the empty soap dispenser I’d get a look of complete disbelief that i was bothering her. what bulls–t. moved to west seattle from ballard where i used the Olympic Athletic club for years. god, do i miss that place. if traffic in seattle weren’t such a constant nightmare, I’d be back there in a minute. i love west seattle and i hope this club will now be in better hands.

• SSwimmer October 24, 2014 (4:10 pm)

  I sure hope the pool survives draining because it sounds like that’s what they did. This is a critical pool maintenance function that needs to be done correctly. To my knowledge in the past 8 years they haven’t drained it. Someone needs to watch for the casing cracking without all the water holding it. The pool is my most used part of the gym (plus the women’s gym) so I hope the didn’t do something destructive to it. Or, that the new owner can get in there a make sure things go ok–like putting water back in to hold it together!

• Marcus October 24, 2014 (10:06 pm)

  I saw that pool, looked like somebody threw a bunch of staff shirts in it. But hey since its empty I think I will give a good scrub and wash.

• cathy, gym member October 25, 2014 (9:14 am)

  I’m 73, a member for almost six years. I go to the gym every day Mon-Fri. Healthier and happier because of it! This is a wonderful gym and with proper management can be a money maker for the new owner. Lots of people will join if repairs are made, and if people knew management valued the members. Lots of people will join if the website is kept up-to-date and lots more classes are added and advertised on that up-to-date website! The teachers and staff are marvelous (and incredibly loyal to the members) and I’m hoping they all will be back to work soon — like today. The group classes are just great. To respond to people who criticize our hard working gym staff, I must say: how would you like to work–and have to defend a place–that is so poorly managed that, just for example, the water is turned off by the city! and often promised repairs are not made; where the customers are mad at You because of these management failures?! Horrible! Not their fault! I’m hoping for good news about the re-opening for all of us. I thank the WSB for its efforts in keeping us posted. Please give me good news.

• DLJ October 25, 2014 (11:33 am)

  Did the club open today? Anything in there?

• LMS October 25, 2014 (1:39 pm)

  I went by around 10am and a few other members were talking outside the locked doors. One of them saw and spoke to the building owner who was inside evaluating conditions; he told her he just got the keys this morning (Sat). Not to be a pessimist, but I find it unlikely the gym will reopen anytime soon, if at all. Even if a semi showed up today full of equipment, II would think it would take multiple days to move in, organize, setup and configure everything. In absence of direct communication from the building owner, I don’t think we’re being treated with honesty or respect.

• John October 26, 2014 (8:57 am)

  Went by early Sunday morning and everything is still locked up. I too am worried about my credit card number being with this dishonest group. Having been a member since the 1st year, this is such a sad situation, because it is (or at least was)such a beautiful facility. Until this year I always paid a year in advance, and got 15 months for the price of 12….they discontinued that policy this year, and I was happy that they did, because I wasn’t going to give them the $$ up front this year. Hope they reopen soon! I feel for the employees who seemed to try to make do as best they could.

Sorry, comment time is over.