When Tobias Greenawalt arrived at his downtown personal training studio Wednesday morning, virtually everything was gone. All the exercise equipment, televisions, lockers, computers and phones that had been there the night before had been removed.
The discovery came hours after the client and trainer received an email from i:Train Studio stating that the business had been immediately suspended.
All clients will be reimbursed for unused prepaid training sessions, and staff will be compensated for work already performed, according to the email.
Other local news:
The email did not contain any other information about the sudden closure or the circumstances behind it.
“I was surprised when I went inside and saw that everything was gone,” Greenwalt said. “Stunned is also a good word.”
The 34-year-old personal trainer, who started working at i:Train in April, is one of three i:Train trainers who lost their jobs after just hours’ notice.
Greenwalt said lockers removed from the gym contained the trainer’s personal items.
Jared Mizrahi, whose CFO is listed on i:Train’s website, did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Mr. Mizrahi owns PCI Auctions, a Mannheim-based company that specializes in auctioning restaurant equipment.
A staffer at Zamagias Properties, a Pittsburgh-based building management firm, said the company learned of the situation on Wednesday but had no further information.
LNP | LancasterOnline has offices at 101 N. Queen St. in the same building.
owner
The face of the business, owner Wayne Mutata, said Thursday he was unable to speak on the situation. “At this point, I’m not in a position to comment as we’re still trying to figure out some things,” he said.
Mutata was originally from Zimbabwe and moved to Lancaster in 2005, according to a biography on the now-defunct website i:Train. He eventually opened a training location on West His James Street before relocating to 101 N. Queen St.
Greenowalt said Mutata was a good boss and a competent personal trainer.
“Wayne was a really nice guy. He was always by my side doing the right thing,” said Greenawalt. “He had a very positive mindset, a very positive person, always happy, always smiling.”
Mutata and his company fell behind financially earlier this year, according to court records.
In March, Mutata’s company ITrainwithWayne LLC defaulted on a $50,000 loan from member First Federal Credit Union. Under the loan agreement, law enforcement was given permission to “take your money or other property at any time to pay the judgment” if Mutata did not contest the move.
That same month, a property management company sued him for paying $1,500 a month’s rent. The judge ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Marie Property Management Company.
Mutata’s company took out a $50,000 business loan in January 2020, weeks before many in-person sales closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
I:Train opened at 101 N. Queen St. in early 2020.
LancasterOnline, Mutata and Mizrahi had ambitions to start a corporate fitness business that would create fitness programs for their employees in consultation with HR departments, according to an I:Train ad on LNP | .
It is unclear whether the plan actually took off.
In May 2020, Mutata shot several videos for LNP | LancasterOnline focuses on his home workouts during lockdown.
The small gym could accommodate several people at once. Greenawalt said the focus was on individual and group training sessions to foster a close-knit community. “I’ve been getting overwhelming inquiries from clients saying, ‘Is this real?’ I can’t believe this happened.” “There was a lot of love in that place.”
Lititz’s Greenawalt said they are looking for new spaces to continue working with i:Train’s clients.
“I was able to partner with everyone I worked with because of how hard I was working,” Greenawalt said. “And they know I’m here to do whatever I can to make them feel better.”
