KARI PETRIE AND STEPHANIE DICKRELL

kpetrie@stcloudtimes.com, sdickrell@stcloudtimes.com

Facing eviction, Work Out World Fitness has shut its doors.

A sign posted on the store at Division Street and 25th Avenue said it "will be closed today due to maintenance." The sign was up Sunday and Monday.

On Monday, workers were loading the few remaining weight machines onto a truck out the back of the store.

The company owes its landlord nearly $100,000 in unpaid rent and fees, according to court documents. An eviction hearing will be Tuesday morning.

Management did not return phone calls Sunday or Monday.

The store celebrated its third anniversary last March.

Work Out World Fitness members said Monday they received no notice about the closure. Several said they had recently paid their annual $50 fee and others had their monthly fee withdrawn from their bank accounts in the past week.

Waite Park Resident Melissa Nelson said her monthly fee was taken out of her account Monday, the same day equipment was being removed from the store.

"I think it's terrible what they're doing," she said.

St. Cloud resident David Smallwood has been a member since WOW opened. He said he's seen the club cut down from 24 hours, close its day care and suspend fitness classes.

Employee Tim Hovde said Sunday that he was informed just a few hours before he was supposed to open Sunday morning that the store was closing. Hovde worked there part time, and had been an employee since it opened. He was told by the area manager that the gym was closing.

"None of the employees got any notice. There was no notice for the members that it would be closing," he said. "The thing that's so disappointing about it, is to have seen what the owner has done to the members of St. Cloud, with no notification."

He didn't have any details on cancellation or refunds for members.

Follow Kari Petrie on Twitter @karipetrie or contact her at 255-8765. Follow Stephanie Dickrell on Twitter @SctimesSteph or call her at 255-8749.

What to do

WOW members should contact their bank if they wish to stop payments to the company. Members can also contact ABC Financial, which handles billing for the club, at 888-827-9262.

Members who are having difficulty stopping payments can contact Consumer Complaints at the Minnesota Attorney General's Office at www.ag.state.mn.us/consumer/complaint.asp.