True Fitness outlets in Singapore not affected by overseas closures

True Fitness may have ceased operations in Malaysia and Thailand, but it is business as usual for outlets in Singapore, say local staff.

In fact, the homegrown chain opened a brand new outlet in Chai Chee's Viva Business Park just last week.

Checks with online job portals also showed that it is hiring for various positions, including fitness instructors, sales consultants and customer service officers.

When The Straits Times visited two outlets in Ang Mo Kio and Novena yesterday, both were bustling with customers. A staff member who declined to be named said: "As far as we know, it's business as usual for Singapore."

According to the Bangkok Post, gym members who showed up at a True Fitness outlet in Bangkok last Thursday found the place shuttered.

The next day, the firm announced that it was pulling out of Thailand as business there was "no longer financially viable due to evolving market conditions".

This was followed by an announcement on Saturday that the group would be closing all True Fitness and True Spa outlets in Malaysia as well.

These abrupt closures come less than a month after True Group chief executive Patrick Wee said that he has plans to establish 20 new clubs in China over the next three years, in a $51 million collaboration with Hong Kong-listed Tongfang Kontafarma.

The group, which has 10 clubs and 47,000 members in Singapore, is planning to open one to two more outlets a year in the city fringe over the next few years.

Members The Straits Times spoke to yesterday expressed concern about the current situation. "I haven't heard anything about the Singapore outlets, but I am worried," said 27-year-old Dylan Wong, who works in the healthcare industry. He has a one-year membership which he is about halfway through.

"I asked the staff about the issue, but they said that Singapore is not affected."

Ms Hung Zi Yun, 31, who works out at the Novena outlet - which formerly housed gym chain California Fitness before it closed down in 2016 - said that news of the closures overseas had unsettled her. - LINETTE LAI, THE STRAITS TIMES