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Private fitness center closes doors after all
(by Sue Reid - December 09, 2009)
Private fitness center closes doors after all
By SUE REID
Just days after Wellness Works owner Donald Weller said the club's demise was premature and that the facility was being rescued by investors, the doors were closed.
The club at 30455 Solon Road had been in business for 17 years and had nearly 2,100 members and 76 employees, Mr. Weller said.
Members of the club had been notified by postcard that the last day would be Nov. 25. However, Mr. Weller said on Nov. 24 that the club would remain open. The facility closed Dec. 1.
Mr. Weller could not be reached for comment.
Solon resident Carole Jirousek, a part-time employee at the club for 10 years, still has not been reimbursed for her paycheck dated Oct. 30. The check bounced, according to her husband, Robert.
"What upsets me the most about my wife's bounced check is that our bank, in order to honor it, took the money out of our personal checking account," Mr. Jirousek said. His wife cashed the check for $133.84, not realizing there was no money in the account, he said. "Once the check bounced, our bank took the money out of our checking account, which is standard policy," he said. "As of this date, we still haven't gotten the money."
His wife was asked to return to work Nov. 27, Mr. Jirousek said, but the couple decided she would not go until her paycheck was honored. This was the first time one of her payroll checks had bounced, he said.
In a note posted on the door of the fitness center upon its closing, Mr. Weller cited unfair competition from the Solon Community Center, which opened in the city in 2003.
Solon Recreation Director Donald W. Holub said Mr. Weller had been citing unfair competition from the community center for years, even before the it opened.
"We had meetings with him," Mr. Holub said. "Obviously, our intent was never to have him close his doors or any other business in Solon, for that matter.
"It was never our intent, and I feel as bad as anybody else about that."
Mr. Holub said he had never looked at the Wellness Works as competition. "I never went after any of his people," he said.
Some members of the community told Mr. Holub that they liked the Wellness Works better, he said. One of the reasons was that it had racquetball courts, while the community center does not, he said.
Comparing the two facilities is like comparing apples to oranges, Mr. Holub said. "We're a little bit different. We have always tried to keep our costs lower to sign up. We're more of a family recreation center." The community center is not a "buy one membership and get everything. Ours is more like picking from a menu."
Mr. Holub said memberships to the community center do not include all of the classes offered, which carry separate fees. Wellness Works memberships were all-inclusive, which is more expensive upfront, he said.
Besides the community center and Wellness Works, another fitness center recently opened in the Shoppes of Solon North on Miles Road.
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