The encyclopedia · Finance & Accounting · Financial decision · 2010–2020
Flywheel built 42 spin studios on the boutique boom — Chapter 7 took them all
Flywheel Sports, the boutique cycling chain founded in 2010, filed Chapter 7 on 15 September 2020, closing all 42 studios a day after its would-be buyer did.
Flywheel Sports · Town Sports International · 2020-09
What happened
Flywheel Sports was founded in 2010 and rode the boutique fitness boom to 42 indoor cycling studios across twelve US states and Washington DC, a top competitor of SoulCycle with some 1,200 employees.
The pandemic hit in March 2020: the studios shut and Flywheel temporarily laid off 98 percent of its staff. A merger with Town Sports International — the owner of New York Sports Clubs — would have saved the chain, but on 14 September 2020 Town Sports filed for Chapter 11 itself.
The next day, 15 September 2020, Flywheel filed for Chapter 7 liquidation, permanently closing all 42 studios. A decade-old brand went into the liquidator's books with its rescue deal dead by one day.
Why it happened
- Boutique studios depend on packed rooms; months of forced closure turned fixed rents into an impossible bill.
- The Town Sports merger was the exit plan — and Town Sports filed Chapter 11 one day before Flywheel did.
- Home cycling surged during lockdown while studios sat dark.
The lesson
Flywheel had 42 studios and a rescue merger lined up — then its buyer, Town Sports, filed Chapter 11 one day earlier, and Flywheel went into liquidation the next morning.
Aftermath
Chapter 7 wound the company down; the cycling market that followed belonged to home bikes rather than studios.
Sources
- New York Post, 16 September 2020 — Flywheel Sports files for bankruptcy, plans to shut down (Chapter 7 petition filed that week; 42 studios around the US; 1,200 employees to be laid off; petition lists up to $100M in liabilities and as much as $50M in assets; Town Sports International announced plans in January to buy Flywheel but scrapped the deal in April as the pandemic hit; plans to permanently close all 42 studios and liquidate)
- Business Insider, 15 September 2020 — Flywheel Sports is filing for bankruptcy and closing all of its studios (Chapter 7 filed Tuesday 15 September 2020; founded 2010; all 42 locations permanently closing; 1,200 employees at filing after temporarily laying off 98% of staff in March 2020; top competitor of SoulCycle operating in twelve states and Washington DC; merger talks with Town Sports International 'would have saved the spinning company', hopes dashed when Town Sports filed Chapter 11)
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