Cheetah Gym members who showed up to work out Wednesday were met with a confusing and unwelcome surprise: a locked door, a dark building and a handwritten sign that said “Closed.”
The demise of the small chain of gyms, with locations in Andersonville, Bucktown and Edgewater, was blamed on “employee theft and graft” in a note posted by owner David Wilshire on the company’s Web site.
“The degree of corruption was enormous,” Wilshire wrote.
Cheetah Gyms were known for their funky atmosphere and state-of-the-art equipment. The Bucktown location, at 1934 W. North Ave., in the loft space previously occupied by the cast of MTV’s “Real World: Chicago,” was one of the first modern gyms to open in that area. Rows of shiny machines were complemented by wooden lockers and a waterfall.
Wilshire said Wednesday that the Bucktown gym was the source of most of his problems, which included employees skimming customer deposits and personal trainers pocketing Wilshire’s share of their fees.
“I’ve been trying to manage it or just try to understand it, and close the holes and fire the people and take back control,” said Wilshire, who estimated his losses to employee theft at more than a million dollars over several years.
In July, Wilshire filed a police report accusing an employee of embezzlement; an investigation into that charge is ongoing, a Chicago police spokesman said.
On Wednesday, several customers who showed up at Cheetah’s Bucktown gym said they had had no inkling that the company was having financial problems and expressed frustration at being forced to look elsewhere to crunch their abs.
“Oh great,” Jeff Zimmerman said. “So I’m going to get fat.”
“I worked out there last night, and everything seemed fine,” said Chris Walton, who said he and his wife have been members for three years. “In fact, I saw them bringing two tour groups through to sign up.”
The managers being accused by Wilshire could not be reached for comment, but several employees said Wednesday that they had not been paid in the last few weeks as Wilshire tried to sort out his financial obligations.
Wilshire said the only one ripped off was him.
“I didn’t see that they were stealing from my members. They were only stealing from me,” Wilshire said. “At this point, I’ve lost everything. All my assets are pledged against the debt, and I’ll come out of this with nothing but the cheetah tattoo I have on my shoulder.”
Cheetah members pay about $60 to $70 monthly, and several said they planned to check their statements and try to reclaim any payments for September. Bret Heiar was not among those members.
“If it was enough for him to close, I’m not going to be petty over my little $60,” said Heiar, who showed up for a yoga class at the Bucktown gym Wednesday morning to find the door locked. “But I’m sure other people will be a lot more upset.”
For competitors, Cheetah Gym’s misfortunes provided opportunity. By Wednesday afternoon, representatives of several competing gyms had arrived at the Bucktown location to hand out fliers and solicit new members.
