SAN DIEGO — The twists and turns of the coronavirus related restrictions took a toll on Cycle OM in Little Italy.
“You're open, you’re shut, you’re open, you’re shut,” founder Dana Pare says.
This time, Pare decided to forego the opportunity to expand onto the sidewalk, unlike other gyms in San Diego. Instead, she permanently moved all of her classes online
She and her teachers deliver them live and on-demand via zoom.
"We want to adapt, move forward, stay healthy, get stronger, and this to me is the new way," Pare said.
The move comes with costs and benefits.
Pare reduced her space in Little Ital by half - keeping just enough to maintain a professional setting for her live workouts.
She also reduced her staff from 15 to about five.
"That was a very, very difficult decision," Pare says.
But Pare also cut her prices in half - money she'll need to market aggressively online.
David Marino, co-founder of commercial real-estate firm Hughes Marino, says he's seeing an increase in companies trying to sublease out their office space - amid an overall drop in demand.
"Your competitive advantage was location, was that you had a physical space people could walk into and have a relationship with you and I think that's really what's under seige right now.
Pare says she's now seeing participants from outside San Diego.
"We're flexible," she says, "we're yogis."
