Page 5 of Seduced at Stevens Street
“I can’t tell you anything for sure yet. I need to talk with my husband before making any commitments, but I’m pretty sure we can help you and all the members not lose yoga classes in this neighborhood.”
“Really? If you even think it is a possibility, I’m sure Claudine would gladly give you the twenty-four hours!”
I wondered if she and her husband were looking for an investment. According to Claudine, the studio was barely turning a profit. I wasn’t sure how attractive it would look to potential investors. But I had a lot of ideas to grow the business and to make it more profitable. I decided that night I would work at putting my ideas into a proposal. For the first time since Gary moved out, I wished he were here. He had experience drafting proposals. I was sure he could help. I’d decide tonight while working on it whether I would call him or not.
I spoke with Claudine about it right away before teaching the class. She agreed to wait twenty-four hours before saying anything, hopeful of a buyout. She didn’t want to just shut down on her members. If she could leave and have classes still run, even if it was under a different name than the brand that she had spent so much time building, that would be the best-casescenario. She really did feel terrible about shutting down with such little notice to her members, Heidi, and me.
Heidi surprised us both with the news that her family was moving out of state by the end of next month, so the end fate of the studio wasn’t an issue for her. I know Claudine felt betrayed that Heidi was not planning on giving more notice and didn’t seem to care about the studio closing. It irked me as well. It had been the three of us for several years. How could she just walk away like that and not care?
I spent all night working on the proposal. I didn’t pack a single box, which, with my move date looming, was foolish. The proposal came together more easily than I had thought it would, and I didn’t call Gary, which I was happy about. I really did not want to call him. He had settled into the separation within the first week after he was gone. I didn’t want him to know that I was probably out of a job.
The next morning, Kenzie called and set up a meeting with Claudine and me. We scheduled it in between the morning and lunchtime classes. I could tell Claudine was as nervous as I was. She had her financials together, well, as best as she could with such short notice and after being out of state for the last month. She knew how unattractive the business looked to potential buyers or investors. I had my proposal as well as my credentialing with me. I had even given a great deal of thought to how low a salary I could afford to take if I was allowed to live upstairs. Having a place to go in less than two weeks was high on my list of things to get out of this deal.
Kenzie came through the door, followed by a very attractive, well-built man. He had short blonde hair. When he removed his sunglasses, his green eyes sparkled as Kenzie introduced him as her husband, Andy Stevens. He wore a tank top that said Stevens Street Gym, the gym down the street, across from the Cheshire Winery headquarters. I was very confused.
“Andy, it’s nice to see you again,” Claudine said shaking his hand. “Kenzie, I didn’t know you were married to Andy,” she added. Claudine saw my questioning gaze. “I know Andy from the Downtown Merchants Association and the Chamber of Commerce.”
I nodded. Suddenly, this didn’t seem like what I thought it would be.
“Claudine,” he said warmly. “I’m very sorry to hear of your studio closing. You provide a valuable service to this part of town, promoting health and well-being, something as you know, I am interested in preserving and furthering in our community.”
“Thank you, Andy,” Claudine said. I saw tears in her eyes.
Andy turned to me. “Gia, it’s nice to meet you. Kenzie and Ashley rave about you as a yoga instructor.”
I shook his hand. His eyes remained focused on mine. “Thank you. I love teaching yoga, and your wife has been a joy to have in class.” My eyes went to Kenzie. She was smiling lovingly at her husband. The two of them made an adorable couple. I bet their baby would be beautiful.
“Shall we get down to business?” Kenzie asked.
Claudine and I both nodded. We led them to the table and chairs in the corner of the little back office, and we all sat.
“Claudine, Gia, as soon as I left the studio after class yesterday, I talked to Andy about bringing the yoga program and you, Gia under the Stevens Street Gym umbrella. The truth is I have wanted to add yoga to the offerings of the gym for several months.” She smiled in a way that put me somewhat at ease. “But this studio was established in the neighborhood, and we didn’t want to try to lure clients away. Andy respects you, Claudine, and would never have set out to put you out of business.” Her voice was sincere, and I could tell that both she and her husband were good people.
“I have just acquired the building next to the gym and plan to expand. I get possession of it the last day of the month,” he said.
My heart dropped. That would coincide with the last day we had our lease for the yoga studio and with the last day I had my apartment, the day I had to move out. The timing was too tight. This wasn’t going to work.
“Claudine, I can do a quick renovation of part of my current space to put in a yoga studio in the two weeks we have. I have many tradesmen who are gym members who I can get to do the work very quickly. We can have it ready to go with no interruption in classes to your members, just a couple of blocks location change.”
“Wow, that’s great Andy. I’m sure the members would appreciate that,” Claudine said.
“We of course would need to see full financials, Claudine, but we’d like to buy all the used equipment, furnishings, decorations, everything from you, less the unused punch-card obligation outstanding, which we would take over as a liability. If we merely absorb the studio under our umbrella, the members will have no recourse to demand refunds for unused classes. I closely examined the member contract, and it does allow for absorptions and assignees. They will come to our gym for at least the remainder of their prepaid sessions and that gives us time to sell them on staying with us. It gets them in our doors, at the very least, which is half the battle with any new enterprise,” Kenzie said.
So, they weren’t looking to keep this studio open. My heart dropped. Kenzie, however, was knowledgeable and had done her homework. I was sure she and Andy already had a figure in mind of what they considered the assets to be worth, what they were willing to pay.
“And of course, we want you to stay on Gia. We want you to be the lead in our yoga program,” Kenzie added.
“The way my gym operates is like a family,” Andy jumped in. “We have leads for each of our programs that work with me and in concert with the other programs for use of space and schedules. Some act as contractors, setting their own rates, scheduling their own classes, and paying me a percentage of their revenues. Others are gym employees who earn a salary from the gym and develop specific programs to enhance thegym and offer more options to its members. The lead and I set member and class fees jointly. I foresee the yoga studio and you following the latter model. My employees help cover the front desk during office hours and we all promote the other programs and offer discounts for those who use multiple services at the gym. My goal is to promote a community where there is something for everyone. We have instituted group chats on-line through our website and through text messaging. We’ve recently begun a weekly newsletter to our members delivered through email and we would like to add to the member community engagement in other ways.”
I nodded numbly. Well, at least I would have a job. I wasn’t sure what they’d pay me, and I could always live with Sara until I found a place. It wasn’t the worse thing. It would have been easier if I could have moved above the studio. Sara lived forty-five minutes away during rush-hour.
“Gia,” Kenzie said pulling me out of my own thoughts. She had a big smile on her face. “There is space above the new building we are acquiring that we plan on making into a couple of apartments. As soon as we close on the building and the yoga studio is built, we can turn our attention to building your apartment. It won’t be big or too fancy, just a one-bedroom unit. It shouldn’t take us more than a few weeks to have it ready for you. And if you need someplace to stay in the interim, Andy and I have a house less than two blocks from the gym with a guest room and no occupant. You would be most welcome to stay with us.”
Tears came to my eyes, and I felt overwhelmed. Kenzie had heard enough of my conversation to know I soon had no placeto live. I was both humbled and embarrassed. “That’s very generous of you,” I said.
“Not generous, just treating you like family. Several of our other gym employees live in the apartments above the gym. I lived there myself until Kenzie and I got married. It serves me as well as I can usually get someone to cover the gym last minute if I need to when employees live upstairs,” Andy added.
I smiled and nodded. “Well, we’d have to discuss salary and rent, but that is a nice offer,” I said, committing to nothing.
