09/28/2026
🚨 PLEASE READ 🚨
This is probably one of the hardest posts I’ve ever had to make.
October will be the final month for Main Street Fitness 247.
Unless something changes, October 31st will be our final day of operation, at which point we will close and reevaluate whether there is a path forward.
I didn’t come to this decision because running a small business got hard.
Running a small business has always been hard.
When flooding from the old grocery store affected my building, I fixed it.
When a neighboring building became a danger to my property and the gym, I paid to have someone else’s entire building torn down so I could keep mine standing and keep these doors open.
Every time something has knocked us down, I’ve reached into my own pocket, figured it out, and kept going because I believed this gym — and this town — were worth fighting for.
But there comes a point where one person cannot fix everything alone.
We have been fighting an ongoing flea problem associated with the cats around our property and surrounding properties.
Seven foggings.
Four professional exterminator treatments.
We treat it.
We clean.
We spend more money.
We do it again.
And members continue to leave.
I have asked for help.
I have reached out to the town, the county, and others looking for a responsible solution.
I cannot simply take animals and dump them somewhere else, nor should I.
But “figure it out yourself” and passing the problem to someone else cannot continue to be the solution either.
Because at this point, this isn’t simply a Main Street Fitness problem.
This is a town problem.
It affects the businesses that are here today.
It affects the people who own property here.
It affects the people who may consider opening a business here tomorrow.
It affects families who may consider making this community their home.
And ultimately, it affects whether our town moves forward or continues watching pieces of Main Street disappear.
Once a year, during Davy Days, people from outside our community come here.
They walk our streets. They learn about our history and our connection to Davy Crockett.
For that one week, our Main Street gets an audience.
And it hurts to wonder what that audience sees.
Main Street should be the heartbeat of a small town.
Instead, there are moments when ours feels more and more like a reminder of what used to be — empty buildings, deteriorating properties, and fewer businesses trying to survive between them.
There is something incredibly sad about inviting people here to celebrate our history while allowing the present-day Main Street around that history to slowly become a shell of itself.
I don’t want someone walking through Rutherford years from now, pointing toward this building and saying:
“There used to be a gym there.”
Just like I don’t want that said about the next business.
Or the one after that.
Small-town decline doesn’t happen all at once.
It happens one empty building at a time.
That’s why I’m asking anyone who is concerned about this — not simply because of Main Street Fitness, but because you care about the future of Rutherford — to contact your elected officials.
Ask questions.
Attend meetings.
Ask what can be done.
Ask what resources, grants, ordinances, partnerships, or other solutions are available.
We should be looking for solutions instead of determining whose problem it isn’t.
And if people are intentionally feeding or encouraging colonies of cats around properties where they are creating problems, that needs to be addressed too.
If existing ordinances apply, enforce them.
If our current ordinances aren’t sufficient to deal with the problem, then maybe it’s time to discuss changing them.
If someone wants to take responsibility for these animals, then take responsibility for them.
Feeding them beside someone else’s home or business while leaving that property owner to deal with the consequences isn’t a solution.
This isn’t about hating cats.
It isn’t about wanting animals harmed.
It’s about responsibility.
I’m disappointed.
I’m frustrated.
And yes, I’m angry.
Not because I expected the town to run my business for me. I never have.
I’ve proven repeatedly that I’m willing to invest my own money and do my part.
But there has to come a point where we stop asking individual property owners and small businesses to solve community-wide problems completely on their own.
Despite all of this, I am incredibly proud of what Main Street Fitness 247 has meant to Rutherford.
I’m proud of every person who walked through these doors trying to better themselves.
I’m proud of the friendships made here and the transformations we’ve watched happen.
And I’m incredibly thankful for every person who chose to spend their hard-earned money supporting a locally owned business.
Small businesses matter too.
They don’t have unlimited money.
They don’t have unlimited resources.
And they cannot absorb problem after problem forever.
So unless circumstances change, October 31st will be our final day.
We’ll keep fighting through October just like we’ve fought through everything else.
After that, we’ll have to decide whether Main Street Fitness 247 still has a future.
But whether this gym stays open or not, I hope this conversation doesn’t end when our doors close.
Because the next small business deserves better.
The next person willing to invest in Rutherford deserves better.
And the next generation deserves to inherit a Main Street we’re proud to show people — not one where we have to keep explaining what used to be there.
Small businesses matter.
Main Street matters.
Rutherford matters.
To everyone who has supported us, worked out with us, recommended us, and stood beside us:
Thank you. Truly.
