Naples Fitness Aims to Build Trust Within the Community

As the doors swung closed on Fysicly Fit, David Rosett made sure its clients were not shut out.

“Clients basically woke up one morning, drove to the gym and it was closed,” Rosett recalls being told by his clients who were once signed on with Fysicly Fit. 

The studio building now occupied by Rosett's gym, , previously housed Fysicly Fit, a gym in which former owners are being accused of embezzling nearly $2 million from investors and clients, according to a Long Beach Police Department spokesperson.

Craig and Yvonne Claro, the owners of Fysicly Fit, abruptly vanished and closed up shop at four sites in 2006, suddenly ceasing contact with scores of clients and stranding about 35 employees.

Now, Rosett, along with his wife Melissa and co-owner Kevin Kasha, operate Naples Fitness in hopes of giving Belmont Shore residents a fitness facility they can not only invest in, but one that will invest in them.

The Fysicly Fit gym closure was one that shook the community, especially affecting local residents who had paid hundreds of dollars in advance for training sessions and memberships for a gym that closed overnight.

Former employees and clients of the Fysicly Fit gym said that in 2006, their combined losses had edged toward the $1 million mark. A spokesperson for the  LBPD said charges were not pressed because it was a breach of contract, making it a civil case. 

Two employees, Barbara Bartee and Bryce Turner, said they suffered substantial losses, having invested a combined $800,000 into the company, which had four Long Beach-area locations: 5542 E. Second St. in Naples; 148 Main St., Seal Beach; 301 Atlantic Ave. in downtown Long Beach, as well as a Just For Her Fitness branch at 6549 E. Pacific Coast Highway.

Court records show Newport Beach attorney Michael Kushner, who was unavailable for comment, represented Bartee and Turner and pushed for criminal charges of grand theft and embezzlement to be filed for the losses of his clients.

Rosett, who was previously a trainer at Fysicly Fit but quit due to an ethics clash with the gym's owners, received a call from a friend the morning Fysicly Fit closed its doors.

“I couldn’t believe it, (but at the same time), I could believe it,” Rosett said.

At the time of the closure, Melissa had taken a position and was planning to travel for ten months.

"Before she left, I told her when she came home we would be well on our way to opening a training studio ... my lifelong goal," David said.

Soon after the closure, Rosett contacted the landlord of the abandoned gym, and after several discussions regarding the future of the property, made good on his promise to Melissa.

Rosett took over the lease of the property and opened Naples Fitness in December of 2006.

In the five years since the Fysicly Fit scandal, Naples Fitness has built a clientele and has strived to get involved in the community, giving residents of Naples and Belmont Shore a training facility that could be trusted.

However, this was no easy task, as the community was still reeling from the act of distrust they had recently endured.

“We needed to build a rapport,” Rosett said. “The first thing we did was offer substantial discounts to people who had receipts and could show they paid for sessions that never took place.

"We offered every person discounted sessions,” Rosett added. “But we couldn’t give their money back because we didn’t have it, though we tried to rectify the situation as best we could.”

Naples Fitness now has more than 150 clients, according to Rosett. It is not a gym with monthly memberships. Instead, it is a training studio that offers one-on-one and group training sessions. There are cardio machines for all clients to use on a daily basis, as long as they train with a trainer twice a week.

Rosett said it took nearly a year to rebuild the community's trust. 

“Many people in the area had been (affected) ... and their trust as far as gyms went was very low,” he said.

“It was a roller coaster and it took some time to regain the trust, but we feel confident we have."