HCMC’s Getfit Gym shuts down after 14 years

The chain’s final day of service was Wednesday, as notified to subscribers a day earlier.

"The company is facing challenges and will temporarily close to address them," Nguyen Huu Phuc, chairman of Getfit Holdings, the chain’s owner, told VnExpress on Wednesday.

While Phuc expressed hope for a potential reopening, he did not provide specific details on when that might happen.

Getfit Gym & Yoga was one of the pioneers in Vietnam's high-end fitness market, known for its premium equipment and skilled personal trainers.

It began operations in 2010 in HCMC, three years after the launch of California Fitness & Yoga, which is now the biggest chain in Vietnam with 37 facilities nationwide.

It cost millions of dollars to build a high-quality Getfit facility, Phuc said in 2016.

In 2022, the chain was estimated to have generated VND35 billion ($1.41 million), according to business database provider Vietdata.

VnExpress data shows that in the last two years most gym chains in Vietnam have either reduced their number of facilities or kept them unchanged, indicating challenges in expansion amid tightened consumer spending.

The rise of "private gyms," where trainers personalized fitness plans for individual clients, has also drawn customers away from major chains.