Total Fitness members and staff who are owed money or who even wish to retrieve items from lockers will have to direct their queries to KPMG Financial Advisory Services Limited.

The Official Receiver has appointed the company, led by Malcolm Butterfield, to act as his agent to oversee the liquidation of Total Fitness Centre Ltd. and Prince Deli and Bakery Ltd.

The co-businesses on Burnaby Street abruptly ceased operations last Friday. The company?s 25 staff as well as an estimated 150 current members were given no advance notice of the closure. has heard reports that the gym was accepting membership payments on the very day that it shut its doors although company director Joanne Thain has not responded to e-mail questions on this subject.

Yesterday, this newspaper asked her father and sole owner of the business, Dr. Clarence James, what he would say to all the members and staff impacted by the decision.

He would only respond: ?They?ll have to take their complaints to the official receiver.?

One loyal 46-year-old member, who joined Total Fitness just months after it opened in 1994 and has actively worked out at the gym three to four times per week since then, told this newspaper yesterday that he was unhappy about the unprofessional way the gym closed.

While he is not owed any membership dues he paid monthly he still thinks members as well as staff are owed an explanation.

?I?m not too happy, but what can you do. It is out of my hands. Businesses come and go. I can accept that, but the fact of the matter is that when you close and you have loyal customers whether it is a business or a tenant you owe people an explanation. That is fair!

?You should give an explanation why you closed, what the reasoning is or why it had to be shut down. People would be able to accept that, but to close on a dime like that, it is bad business,? he said.

Daniel Brandon, who joined Total Fitness almost three years ago, is one of many owed membership dues.

He is also among a group who want access to the building itself because the locked doors mean he cannot retrieve his belongings from his rental locker.

Last Saturday, he was forced to buy new sneakers so he could workout on Saturday at his new gym. He is also upset about the way the gym closed.

Rumours had been circulating for months about the future of the gym so when he came up for renewal on February 7 this year, he told staff he did not want to rejoin if there was a chance the gym would not be there throughout the course of the membership.

?One of the managers assured me that ?we?ll definitely be here. We?re not moving before September and even then we?re going to relocate here in town?, so based on that commitment I reenlisted for six months,? he said.

Yesterday, a couple other members had taped envelopes to the company?s door one directly asking for access to a locker. A yoga instructor had also left a note asking the company to contact her to tell her how to collect her last paycheque.

All enquiries from members, staff and creditors should now be directed to KPMG. The statement issued by the Official Receiver also directs any parties interested in buying the business or its assets to contact KPMG directly. The company says any queries should be e-mailed to totalfitnessgymkpmg.bm