Battered by financial difficulties, the Alexander Group (亞力山大集團), parent company of the nation's leading fitness centers, Alexander Health Clubs, (亞力山大健康休閒俱樂部), yesterday shut down all of its 20 branches without prior notice to members.
"I regretfully announce that all branches have suspended operations," company chairwoman Candy Tang (
Tang said that the company had experienced plummeting sales over the past two-and-a-half years caused by a "poorly performing economy, the fallout of credit and cash-card defaults and rising inflation."
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
In spite of an estimated NT$2 billion in annual revenues, Tang yesterday claimed that the company's board was recently scammed for NT$95 million, which triggered a liquidity problem to her already financially troubled gyms.
She did not say whether the company would reimburse some 10,000 members as well as the company's 1,000 or so employees.
Disappointed gym members yesterday besieged the company's outlets, with some accusing the Alexander Group of fraud.
A woman surnamed Lin, interviewed on TV yesterday, said that she had signed a contract with Alexander on Sunday.
"Knowing that it may soon suspend operations, Alexander were still touting for new members," Lin said.
Chen Po-ching (
She also lambasted the company for having only notified its employees of their fate by brief messages after reaching a decision to suspend operations at around 2am yesterday morning.
A joint lawsuit can only be brought by a group of more than 20 consumers before applying for a juncture to freeze company assets, Chen said, who also urged members to contact their banks as soon as possible to discontinue monthly payments.
Wu Cheng-hsue (吳政學), director-general of the Consumer Protection Commission, said he had had problems reaching company executives yesterday, including Tang, who was once named one of the best female businesswomen in Asia.
At the age of 22, Tang opened her first dance club expanding her business and founding the Alexander Group in 1993.
However, the group has been suffering from financial difficulties after tapping into Chinese markets by establishing a Shanghai-based flagship fitness center in 2002 with capital of NT$50 million and three other Chinese branches.
Domestic banks including First Bank (
Pending contract terms, Chinatrust will assist the bank's credit cardholder members of Alexander to seek legal compensation should the firm's closure be permanent, the bank said in a statement yesterday.
The bank will also stop cardholders' monthly payments to Alexander.
Taipei prosecutors yesterday said that Alexander may face fraud charges, without ruling out the possibility of preventing Tang from leaving the country.
The Council of Labor Affairs yesterday vowed to press Alexander for follow-up compensation for its employees, including salaries for this month and redundancy payments.
EXPANSION: The investment came as ASE in July told investors it would accelerate capacity growth to mitigate supply issues, and would boost spending by 16 percent ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip assembly and testing service provider, yesterday said it is investing NT$17.6 billion (US$578.6 million) to build a new advanced chip packaging facility in Kaohsiung to cope with fast-growing demand from artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance-computing (HPC) and automotive applications. The new fab, called K18B, is to commence operation in the first quarter of 2028, offering chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) chip packaging and final testing services, ASE said in a statement. The fab is to create 2,000 new jobs upon its completion, ASE said. A wide spectrum of system-level chip packaging technologies would be available at
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves hit a record high at the end of last month, surpassing the US$600 billion mark for the first time, the central bank said yesterday. Last month, the country’s foreign exchange reserves rose US$5.51 billion from a month earlier to reach US$602.94 billion due to an increase in returns from the central bank’s portfolio management, the movement of other foreign currencies in the portfolio against the US dollar and the bank’s efforts to smooth the volatility of the New Taiwan dollar. Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民)said a rate cut cycle launched by the US Federal Reserve
HEAVYWEIGHT: The TAIEX ended up 382.67 points, with about 280 of those points contributed by TSMC shares alone, which rose 2.56 percent to close at NT$1,400 Shares in Taiwan broke records at the end of yesterday’s session after contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) hit a fresh closing-high amid enthusiasm toward artificial intelligence (AI) development, dealers said. The TAIEX ended up 382.67 points, or 1.45 percent, at the day’s high of 26,761.06. Turnover totaled NT$463.09 billion (US$15.22 billion). “The local main board has repeatedly hit new closing highs in the past few sessions as investors continued to embrace high hopes about AI applications, taking cues from a strong showing in shares of US-based AI chip designer Nvidia Corp,” Hua Nan Securities Co (華南永昌證券) analyst Kevin Su
Handset camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光) on Sunday reported a 6.71 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for the third quarter, despite revenue last month hitting the highest level in 11 months. Third-quarter revenue was NT$17.68 billion (US$581.2 million), compared with NT$18.95 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement. The figure was in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$17.9 billion, but missed the market consensus estimate of NT$18.97 billion. The third-quarter revenue was a 51.44 percent increase from NT$11.67 billion in the second quarter, as the quarter is usually the peak
RSS