How Long Can We Go On Like This?

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — Day cares. Hair salons. Yoga studios. Shopping malls. Water parks. Dentists’ offices.

One by one, as the months went by, Ralph and Sharon Basile watched as Governor Murphy checked off the New Jersey businesses that were allowed to reopen.

And yet they have to keep their South Brunswick gym, Retro Fitness on Rt. 27 in Kingston, closed.

“It’s just very frustrating to see,” said Sharon. “We need the governor to let us open up. Being closed for four months, we have a long way to catch up. And if 20 to 30 percent of our membership decides not to come back …” she trailed off.

“We’re so far behind the eight ball, the future is uncertain,” said her husband.

Ralph Basile is a lifetime firefighter with the Monmouth Junction Fire Department, and worked as a 911 dispatcher in town. The couple has lived in South Brunswick for the past 30 years; they took over the Rt. 27 Retro Fitness franchise four years ago.

“We love the town we live in and want our business to last here, but we need some help,” said Sharon.

The U.S. economy is technically in a recession due to COVID-19, and a countless number of small businesses across New Jersey have permanently closed their doors. A growing number of bakeries, restaurants, shops and delis will never open again; every day the list grows larger.

But perhaps no industry has suffered quite like gyms, which were forced to close in late March and have no reopening date in sight. On Monday, the owners of South Jersey-based Atilis Gym were arrested — for the second time — for repeatedly opening their gym without approval from the governor.

Like many gym owners, the Basiles have one basic point they want Gov. Murphy to hear: They are confident it is safe to reopen and have people work out again in gyms.

All the exercise machines have been placed six feet apart. Every other piece of cardio equipment has been taken out of commission to ensure social distancing. The couple installed Plexiglass barriers throughout the gym for the safety of their employees and members. They have private rooms for people who want to work out one-on-one with a trainer. (Two weeks ago, Murphy allowed personal training sessions to resume; all personal training sessions must be done with both people wearing a mask.)

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And then there are the cleanings and sanitation procedures the gym will go through multiple times a day, once they are allowed to open.

“My husband and I spent countless hours on our hands and knees cleaning our gym — you could eat off the floor at this point,” said Sharon. “There’s no reason people can’t come to our gym and have a healthy workout. If Murphy wants to come visit our gym, he is welcome.”

And all of these extra safeguards did not come cheap: Like so many businesses across America, the Basiles received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) federal loan. They used the money, plus some limited additional cash they had on hand, to make safety improvements to the gym.

“The PPP funds didn’t even put a dent in what we need, not even close,” said Ralph. “It costs us a significant amount of money to get the gym ready for when the governor allows gyms to reopen. Plexiglass and all that comes at a pretty hefty price. And we’ll still have to pay monthly rent.”

Their landlord has tried to be accommodating, and their monthly rent has been deferred. That gym has a few thousand members, but all membership dues have been frozen since mid-March.

“This is so not a political thing for my husband and me,” said Sharon. “We understand and respect that there are people who are not going to feel comfortable coming back. But we also know there are people constantly at our door asking us, ‘When are you going to open?'”

Ralph also wanted to emphasize that he and his wife are about as local as it gets when it comes to local small-business owners.

“We’re not some big chain,” he said. “We’re local small-business owners; we are very ingrained in this community. We know 90 percent of our gym members by name when they walk through the door. We’ve done local breast cancer fundraising, sponsored four South Brunswick High School scholarships, sponsored the Turkey Trot run, supported South Brunswick High School’s Project Graduation. Anything that has to do with the community, we’re there.”

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This article originally appeared on the South Brunswick Patch