The hearts of the CrossFit athlete family are breaking today, upon the news that legendary San Francisco CrossFit will be closing its doors for the last time on November 15, 2020. The primary reason for the closure is that the gym has become a victim of the Covid-19 pandemic. They just can’t afford to stay open now.
The San Francisco CrossFit owners have done everything they could to save the gym, and sent a heartfelt email to all of their members detailing specific financial decisions they underwent in order to keep the doors open. But unfortunately, the time has come that the doors must close, as there are no further financial streams available to keep the gym open as a result of the pandemic.
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San Francisco CrossFit’s Broken Hearts
The email starts, “with a heavy heart” to break the announcement of the closure. The last day for classes is Sunday, November 15, and they will be sending further details to their membership for this last day.
The owners describe the gym as a “second home for over 15 years” and the coaches and members as “the greatest family we could have ever hoped for.” It continues:
“It is hard to comprehend how many extraordinary people have become part of our lives as a result of this gym….We wanted to create a third place in the lives of our members – a space that wasn’t work or home but had equal value in their lives.”
The San Francisco CrossFit gym is a legend in the CrossFit community, as it was the first CrossFit gym in San Francisco, and the twenty-first CrossFit gym worldwide.
Why San Francisco CrossFit is Closing
It’s clear the gym is closing as a result of struggling finances during the pandemic, but the owners want the members to be very clear on the notion that they did everything they could to save the gym. Bad decisions are not the cause, the pandemic took the life of the gym.
The letter to members even specifies how difficult their financial decisions were:
“When we first hatched the idea to open the first CrossFit gym in San Francisco in 2005, we funded the project with early law practice salary and maybe an extra private grad student loan….in March, we knew then we were facing an existential threat, but we needed to see what the future held.
We were also singularly focused on protecting our staff….we had no debt, a sizable cash reserve, so we could avoid furloughing our coaches and support them at their normal rates of pay.
Fast forward eight months….we can no longer afford to keep the gym open in the current pandemic economy.”
The gym also notes that brick-and-mortar businesses are the most expensive to run in this climate.
San Francisco CrossFit Cherishes Their Third Family
The gym is closing and it is clear their hearts are breaking. They call this a deeply, painful task, and stressful for their families at home.
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Remember when we all worked out next to each other? Good times. #buttstonuts #pecstoerectors
The early days of the gym involved the true grit of the CrossFit spirit, including “deadlifts in the rain” married with a spirit of community and fellowship.
It’s a sad day for the entire CrossFit family across the world, as it is a sign of the times and how this pandemic has changed the way athletes work to pursue their biggest dreams.
