FAIRLAWN — Fairlawn kickboxing studio I Love Kickboxing closed on April 1 without much more than a few days notice from the owner, leaving employees without pay and some members needing reimbursements.
Lead instructor Katie Kramer has been with the studio since it opened in May of 2017. Since then, she said the studio has become her safe haven.
“It was 100% a family. People would come in, they would put their kids in. They would know us. They would know our birthdays. We would know theirs. It was always a celebration. Every little milestones in," Kramer said.
She found out the studio was closing through a text message from owner Andrew Mort. Based on the timing, she thought it was an April Fools joke.
Sales manager Kyle Barski said sales were good, even selling memberships the day before the closure announcement.
“It was like a well oiled machine," he said.
He said he bought supplies for the studio, like paper towels, toiletries and water bottles for months, and was never reimbursed.
Barski just moved into a new home and his next paycheck is essential to keeping a roof over his head.
“It really made me panic. Because I don’t want to have to make a phone call to mom and dad, and say 'Hey I need to move back home...I can’t pay my mortgage,'" he said.
Kickboxer of the month, Jen Heischman, paid $750 in February for a year membership.
Since joining, she has lost nearly 20 pounds, gaining a whole new level of confidence.
"You don’t think you can do it, and you show up and you’ve got these people in front of you telling you, yes you can," Heischman said.
Now, she's just hoping for some kind of resolution.
“I just want to see the right things done. There have been so many good people that of been impacted so negatively," she said.
News 5 reached out to Mort, and asked him why he closed shop suddenly and if he was planning on paying members back.
He responded by saying, "no comment," in a text message.
According to an I Love Kickboxing spokesperson, they are working with the owner to reimburse members.
