Y7 Studio Company has told employees it is shutting down its current studios in New York, Los Angeles, and Austin, while coaches say expected payroll did not arrive last Friday.
In an email reviewed by Hybrid Fitness Media, Vin Micelli wrote that the two New York locations still open will hold their final classes Friday. Locations already closed will remain closed.
“Due to many factors, we have decided to shut down the current Y7 studios,” Miceli wrote. “This includes all the NY, LA, and Austin locations.”
Micelli said the company is exploring reopening five New York studios: East Village, Upper East Side, Flatiron, Park Slope, and Williamsburg. He said a decision would be made by Monday, with reopening planned for next week.
The email does not guarantee that those locations will reopen.
Four weeks before the shutdown notice, Y7 founder Sarah Ayako announced on Instagram that she was stepping back from the company. Ayako wrote that she no longer had a say in how Y7 operated and said the previous year had “broken parts of me.”
“I don’t know exactly what happens next for Y7,” she wrote.
Ayako’s post did not identify who had taken control of the company or explain the change in ownership.
Payroll Missed
Micelli acknowledged that payroll had originally been expected last weekend.
“All payroll including the final pay should be complete within the next week,” he wrote. “I’m working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and will let you know when it’s officially processed.”
Hybrid Fitness Media spoke with multiple Y7 coaches who said they did not receive their expected payroll last Friday.
Micelli also said the company would send notices to current clients within 24 hours. The email did not address refunds or credits for members whose classes were canceled or whose locations closed.
Comments on a June 29 Instagram post show members had been reporting canceled classes, closed locations, and unanswered emails for weeks. One commenter wrote that “July and August didn’t happen,” while others said full days of classes had been canceled at New York locations and asked for refunds for memberships they could no longer use.
A Reddit thread posted three weeks before the shutdown notice also documented repeated cancellations at New York locations. Members described multiple classes being canceled in the same week and said the disruptions were unlike anything they had experienced at Y7 before. An anonymous commenter who identified themselves as a Los Angeles Y7 teacher later wrote that staff were told about the closure only hours after clients were notified.
Racked Coaches Still Await Payment
The Y7 email was signed by Micelli, who was also involved in the Racked Culver City closure covered by Hybrid Fitness Media last month.
Racked Culver City, formerly the Nike Strength Studio, permanently closed in August. In Hybrid Fitness Medi’s August 22 report, coach Simone Berry said she and other coaches were still waiting for wages.
Hybrid Fitness Media has since reviewed an August 21 email Micelli sent to Racked coach Amanda Rivas. Rivas had already filed a claim with the California Labor Commissioner. Micelli wrote that the company was “closing multiple locations simultaneously” and told Rivas, “You will not be paid tomorrow.”
He added that employees would receive legal releases connected to their final pay, including any applicable penalties, but did not provide a payment date.
Culver City Crossroads reported September 4 that Rivas was owed roughly $2,000 for 21 classes and had not received a payment timeline.
Hybrid Fitness Media has reached out to Micelli with questions and has not heard back as of this reporting.
Additional Reporting