Fitness stores file for Chapter 7 as landlords sue for rent

Colorado Home Fitness 1

The former Colorado Home Fitness location at 9619 E. County Line Rd. in Englewood. (Google)

A local chain of home fitness stores has closed and declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Colorado Home Fitness, which had locations in Denver, Englewood and Westminster, filed for bankruptcy April 20. It is being sued by landlords who say it owes back rent.

The retailer was founded in Englewood in 2009 by Luther “Chip” Hunnings, who also co-created and sold Denver-based All About Fitness before starting Colorado Home Fitness. It expanded to Denver in 2012 and Westminster in 2019. All three stores are now closed.

Colorado Home Fitness is carrying $1.7 million in debt and only $394,000 in assets, according to its bankruptcy paperwork. Nearly all of its assets are unsold exercise equipment.

The company owes about $441,000 to banks and $246,000 to lenders, $343,000 to exercise equipment companies, $293,000 to landlords and $178,000 to governments. The Colorado Department of Revenue alone is owed $105,000 in unpaid sales taxes.

In December, Colorado Home Fitness was sued by its landlord at 14686 Delaware St. in Westminster, which accused it of signing a 10-year lease in 2018 and abandoning that lease in 2022. Colorado Home Fitness largely ignored the lawsuit, so last month a judge in Adams County ordered it to pay the landlord $135,500 in back rent and fees.

On April 17, Colorado Home Fitness and Hunnings were sued by a landlord at 9619 E. County Line Rd. in Englewood, which accused them of signing a lease in 2018 and abandoning it in 2022. The defendants have not yet responded to that lawsuit in court.

Reached by email Monday, Hunnings declined to discuss the bankruptcy while it is ongoing.

The company’s bankruptcy paperwork indicates it was profitable as recently as 2021, when it generated $6.5 million in revenue. That number slipped to $4.2 million last year and, after its stores closed, only $79,000 in the first three-and-a-half months of this year.

Colorado Home Fitness 1

The former Colorado Home Fitness location at 9619 E. County Line Rd. in Englewood. (Google)

A local chain of home fitness stores has closed and declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Colorado Home Fitness, which had locations in Denver, Englewood and Westminster, filed for bankruptcy April 20. It is being sued by landlords who say it owes back rent.

The retailer was founded in Englewood in 2009 by Luther “Chip” Hunnings, who also co-created and sold Denver-based All About Fitness before starting Colorado Home Fitness. It expanded to Denver in 2012 and Westminster in 2019. All three stores are now closed.

Colorado Home Fitness is carrying $1.7 million in debt and only $394,000 in assets, according to its bankruptcy paperwork. Nearly all of its assets are unsold exercise equipment.

The company owes about $441,000 to banks and $246,000 to lenders, $343,000 to exercise equipment companies, $293,000 to landlords and $178,000 to governments. The Colorado Department of Revenue alone is owed $105,000 in unpaid sales taxes.

In December, Colorado Home Fitness was sued by its landlord at 14686 Delaware St. in Westminster, which accused it of signing a 10-year lease in 2018 and abandoning that lease in 2022. Colorado Home Fitness largely ignored the lawsuit, so last month a judge in Adams County ordered it to pay the landlord $135,500 in back rent and fees.

On April 17, Colorado Home Fitness and Hunnings were sued by a landlord at 9619 E. County Line Rd. in Englewood, which accused them of signing a lease in 2018 and abandoning it in 2022. The defendants have not yet responded to that lawsuit in court.

Reached by email Monday, Hunnings declined to discuss the bankruptcy while it is ongoing.

The company’s bankruptcy paperwork indicates it was profitable as recently as 2021, when it generated $6.5 million in revenue. That number slipped to $4.2 million last year and, after its stores closed, only $79,000 in the first three-and-a-half months of this year.

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