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12/01/2009 11:00 PMIt's bad news all over again for business in Guilford as word was just received that Shoreline Health and Fitness (SHF) will close at the end of this month. In a letter to its members mailed last Friday, SHF stated, in part, its reasons for closing and its hopes for a new, future facility.
Over the course of the past two years, read the letter, SHF has
attempted to renegotiate its lease for 705 Boston Post Road, but has not been able to reach acceptable terms with the landlord.
According to sources, the landlord is Milano Development. SHF is owned by Jim Grieder, who also owns gyms of the same name in Clinton and Old Saybrook. At press time, neither he nor Milano Development could be reached for comment.
In the letter to its Guilford
membership, representatives from the gym said they wish to build a new, state-of-the art facility in Guilford with work taking from 18 to 24 months.
Shana Moore, a member of the Guilford gym, expressed her disappointment in the town's losing yet another business on Route 1.
"Not only do hundreds of people use this facility, but those people use other services in town and spend money here," she said. "We are losing businesses left and right and that means we are losing tax revenue."
The closing is a "huge hit to our town's morale," she stressed.
Moore, who moved to town about eight years ago with her family, said one of her criteria when deciding upon a house was it had to be near a gym.
"Like a church, synagogue, or community center, a town has to have a local gym," she said.