Small business hit hard by pandemic shut down again

KENNESAW, Ga - Many small businesses have been hit hard during the coronavirus pandemic. A personal training facility in Kennesaw fought hard to get back on track when they were knocked down again Monday morning.

"I came in, I tried to turn the light switch on, the light switch wouldn't work. I hear the alarm pinging, I start walking in and felt like I was walking on water," said Greg Pointdujour, owner of Hybrid Impact Fitness.

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The sprinkler system came on after a small fire, flooding Pointdujour's personal training and sports performance center in Kennesaw.

"The whole ceiling fell into both bathrooms," said Pointdujour.

 He said the water was about 2 inches deep. It damaged walls, equipment and put his business out of commission for a while.

"We've literally been forced to close 3 times in the past 6 months," said Pointdujour.

The facility had to shut down for 2 months when COVID-19 first hit. It closed again for several days in July when the coronavirus numbers started to spike. Now, this has them shut down until all the repairs can be made and equipment replaced.

"For the past few months, business has been doing pretty well. Clients are starting to get the courage to come back inside. Everything is going well, then boom!" said Corey Bridges with C4 Performance who leases space at the facility.

They typically train students and pro athletes, as well as anyone in the community who wants to get in shape. But there will be no one training here for a while.  

"I played sports you always deal with wtih adversity. You gotta sit back and analyze the situation. It's 2020 anything can happen right?" said Bridges.

They try to stay positive and realize they've made it through a pandemic, they can get through this.

"Just keeping our faith and knowing that we made it this long in business and in life so we just look at it as a minor setback and looking forward to the comeback," said Pointdujour.

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