Blink Fitness, an affordable gym with 15 NJ locations, files for bankruptcy

Blink Fitness, a low-priced gym chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday.

The company said it may be forced to close some locations but did not specify which ones. There are currently 15 locations in New Jersey: Clifton, East Orange, Ironbound, Irvington, Linden, Lodi, Journal Square, Paramus, Parsippany, Passaic, Perth Amboy, Plainfield, Nutley, South Orange and Union.

Blink, which has monthly memberships as low as $15 per month, is owned by Equinox Group, a group that owns luxury gyms.

Blink said Monday that it was filing for bankruptcy to help facilitate a sale of the business. The bankruptcy filing arrives just months after the company announced a multimillion-dollar investment that included upgrading 30 of its most-trafficked locations with more than 1,700 pieces of new equipment.

Blink is a smaller chain that also operates in New York, Pennsylvania, California, Illinois, Massachusetts and Texas.

The company’s bankruptcy filing arrives as much of the fitness industry works to bounce back pandemic-era losses. Gyms and workout studios from were among the hardest hit during the beginning days of COVID-19, as lockdowns shuttered or significantly limited many operations — including Blink, which was forced to temporarily close all of its gyms at the height of the pandemic, the company’s bankruptcy documents note.

Associated Press wires contributed to this report.