[ALERT] LA Fitness Closing in East Cobb, Non Fitness Tenant Likely Replacing it

LA Fitness will in July close its gym in East Cobb after more than twenty years in business.  The more than 48,000 square foot gym anchors Merchants Exchange shopping center at 4400 Roswell Road, across from The Avenue East Cobb.  

Employees at the East Cobb facility were reportedly informed of the impending closure on Wednesday, with members notified on Thursday, and signage installed at the front doors directing members and would-be members to the next closest LA Fitness in Sprayberry Square shopping center about seven miles away. (Actually, there is another LA Fitness at Abernathy and Roswell roads in Sandy Springs Crossing about five miles away.)  

The gym will close permanently as of 2pm July 20th.  

According to a property flyer for the East Cobb shopping center, the gym's current lease was due to "expire" on June 30, 2027.  Its closure comes on the heels of our exclusive report June 5 that Fitness International, its parent company, is bringing its upscale "Club Studio" fitness brand to the Avenue West Cobb along Dallas Highway in West Cobb.  

It's worth noting, too, that LA Fitness closed its standalone gym along Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw this past December, a move which was seemingly the result of their property being sold and the new owners planning to redevelop the site.  

The LA Fitness in East Cobb occupies a onetime Harris Teeter grocery (as does the LA Fitness in Toco Hills), and while we have confirmed that a replacement is in the works, it won't be a Harris Teeter return (as several on our Instagram post hoped for).  

Are you surprised to see LA Fitness close its East Cobb location?  If you are a current member, which location do you plan to move to?  What would you most like to see open in place of LA Fitness in East Cobb?  

Please share your thoughts below.