41-year-old gym chain closes locations and won’t let members quit

A couple of years ago, the LA Fitness less than a mile from my house shut down.

At the time, I had an annual contract with the chain, so because there was another location about four miles away, I was not allowed to cancel my membership. That distance, however, was deceptive. During rush hour — the time period I was most often free to work out — it took more than 30 minutes to drive that four miles.

Now, tens of thousands of LA Fitness members will find themselves in the same boat, as the chain has been closing locations nationwide. In some cases, those shuttered gyms are being reopened under the higher-end Club Studio’s name, another brand owned by LA Fitness’ parent company Fitness International.

Once my contract expired, I never actually got around to canceling my membership because the company does not make that process easy. That’s actually the subject of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation that has been ongoing since August 2025.

It’s also a situation that’s repeating itself for me because the LA Fitness about three miles from our new home closed and will be replaced by a Club Studios.

LA Fitness closes one chain to sometimes open another

LA Fitness has quietly been closing gyms across multiple markets.

“As of October 24, 2026, Store Closure Watch has tracked 19 LA Fitness closure-related events across the U.S., including 16 recorded store closures. Another 3 are conversions: the store changes to another brand at the same site. Where the source names the new brand, 3 are recorded as converting to Club Studio, according to Four Lights Analytics Store Closure Watch.

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Florida was hardest hit with 11 closures, while Connecticut and Illinois both will lose three LA Fitness locations, and New York and Rhode Island will each lose one.

The wave of shutdowns has extended across the country, with Fitness International shutting locations in Centereach, New York; Newington, Connecticut; Holmdel, New Jersey; Southfield, Michigan; and Burnsville, Minnesota.

Alongside the physical closures, members have also faced cutbacks to club programming, including the elimination of cycling classes.

Fitness International has publicly stated that it plans to grow the Club Studios brand from 15 to 50 locations nationwide within the next year.

Club Studios costs a lot more

The LA Fitness closing near me serves a wealthy community adjacent to the town I live in. It’s a city known for hosting polo matches and other equestrian events, and Fitness International likely sees its higher-end brand as a better fit for that market.

Club Studios, which was created in 2023, offers boutique fitness classes and additional wellness amenities.

Both chains come with very different price tags.

LA Fitness and Club Studios membership cost comparison

• Club Studio can cost nearly four times as much. At the example prices above, annual membership costs $1,908 versus $488.88 at LA Fitness.
• Club Studio combines a conventional gym with boutique classes. Its offerings include reformer Pilates, cycling, and other instructor-led workouts, as well as strength and cardio equipment.
• The premium isn’t just about classes. Club Studio locations can also offer amenities such as pools, saunas, steam rooms, and towel service.
• The price gap varies by market. The company’s official enrollment pages show location-specific pricing, so compare the same local market before presenting the difference as a general rule.
  • Sources: LA Fitness official membership pricing and Club Studio official pricing

Prices vary by location.

LA Fitness makes it hard to quit

LA Fitness does not allow contracted members to quit simply because their local gym has closed. Technically, if there’s another gym within 25 miles, you cannot cancel your contract, according to its membership agreement.

Even when your contract expires, the company makes quitting a challenge, which is the subject of the FTC lawsuit.

“The Federal Trade Commission today sued the operators of LA Fitness and other gyms over allegations they make it exceedingly difficult for consumers to cancel their gym memberships and related services that continued indefinitely unless canceled. The agency is seeking a court order prohibiting the allegedly unfair conduct and money back for consumers harmed by the difficulty in canceling memberships,” the federal agency shared in an August 2025 press release.

Traditionally, LA Fitness has required consumers who want to cancel their membership to either go to the gym itself or send a cancellation notice by mail.

“To start the process, LA Fitness has instructed consumers to log into its website and print a cancellation form. But even logging in can be cumbersome because consumers often do not recall their login credentials, and LA Fitness requires consumers to use the email address used to establish membership, the ‘key tag’ number assigned at start up, and the first five digits of their credit card or bank account number to reset their login credentials,” the FTC shared.

In my case, I don’t have my key tag anymore, nor do I remember which credit card I used to start the account.

“At the hearing, LA Fitness’s counsel made several arguments in response. She contended that the gym does offer a simple online cancellation mechanism on its website and that the online cancellation flow requires fewer clicks than enrollment,” law firm Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein, and Selz shared on its Advertising Law updates page.

She also argued that members knew what they were getting into.

“Consumers, she added, received disclosures about cancellation procedures in their membership agreements and enrollment flows, and none of that information was in fine print. Given what she characterized as the ‘absolute absence of any real allegations’ of harm in the FTC’s complaint, she argued it ‘really boggles the mind’ how the cancellation process could be deemed not simple as a matter of law,” she shared.

The case remains open.

“The bottom line for subscription and membership businesses is this: adequate disclosure of a cumbersome cancellation process does not make it simple, and a cancellation experience that is structurally harder than sign-up is the kind of asymmetry that draws FTC attention regardless of whether a new rule is on the books,” Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein, and Selz explained.

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