PONTEDERA. Carrying out a business with 40 euros of collection per day. And hold out until you know when. Perhaps – according to the news of the last few days – even after 7 January. Because of the reopening, still, there is no talk of it. “This is what the state is asking of us. It is not a point of view, it is mathematics. These are numbers that tell of how exhausting it is to be an entrepreneur today, in the middle of the pandemic. Aid is insufficient, and government planning is absent. We will stay here until the situation is clear. Our protest goes on ». Maximum e Marco Bartaloni, 47 and 49, from Pontedera, have been sleeping for 65 days in their gym, the “InFit”, opened in January 2019 in via Giovanni XXIII, in the industrial area of La Bianca.
«In a short time we managed to reach 1,500 customers, we invested, we created jobs. Now we are at the mercy of the pandemic, and of a political class – continues Massimo Bartaloni – which is unable to give us concrete support ».
The protest of the two brothers engaged in the fitness field began in late October. In the summer months, the expected reopening arrived after the total closure of March, then, in the autumn, another national stop due to the increase in infections. The Bartaloni have set up a tent next to weights and machinery, recounting their protest through the Internet, day after day. Today they are practically a symbol for tens of thousands of entrepreneurs who risk drowning in the economic emergency resulting from the health emergency. “Our video messages on social media are followed and commented on by 25-30 thousand people a week. This means that we are not crazy – says Massimo – but that there are many people in our condition ».
Massimo and Marco are worried and afraid. Their money and their future are at stake. And the numbers are red alert. «From March to today we have totaled about 140 days of closure due to the various restrictions. Days when not a soul has set foot in the gym. The compensation – explain the Barteloni brothers – received up to now by the State amounted to 6 thousand euros. This means that, according to our government, we should run the gym with a collection of forty euros a day. It is practically impossible ». There is a problem of insufficient “refreshments”. Money that doesn’t come. But there is also one when it comes to the money that is already gone. Investments made hoping for a happy future, and currently not amortized even minimally. “In September we managed to increase the clientele by 10% compared to 2019, while the national trend of gyms was -30%. We believed – says Massimo Bartaloni – that we could remain open, albeit with all the limitations of the case, even during the winter. So we spent 38 thousand to improve our machinery, and we took a piece of land in via Montanara, in the city center, to open our second center. Then the government shut everything down again. And we are now dealing with a dramatic corporate situation ».
Meanwhile, there is no news on the horizon. The gyms are at serious risk of being closed even on 7 January. «We – the Bartaloni conclude – will go ahead with our protest. An entrepreneur has to plan. We need certain dates and precise answers ». –
Tommaso Silvi
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I feel a lot for them, they seem to be hard worker, that really care for what they do.