DALLAS, Texas – Gold’s Gym has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The well-known chain made the announcement Monday, saying it plans to “be on the other side of Chapter 11” by August 1, if not sooner.

“This pre-negotiated filing will enable us to emerge stronger and ready to grow,” wrote Gold’s Gym in a statement.

The gym says the coronavirus pandemic is largely to blame for the company’s financial stress.

“The global COVID-19 pandemic spurred us to take immediate action, including the difficult but necessary decision to permanently close about 30 company-owned gyms, to maintain the strength and growth of the potential of the brand as well as ensure the continued viability of the company for decades to come,” wrote the company.

There are still nearly 700 Gold’s Gyms around the world, most of which are locally owned franchise facilities. The company says the bankruptcy filing shouldn’t affect the franchises.

“To be clear, the filing should not impact our licensing division, it is not associated with any of our locally-owned franchise gyms, nor will it prevent us from continuing to support our system of nearly 700 gyms around the world,” said the company.

The company says it will continue to reopen its temporarily closed gyms in accordance with state, local and federal guidelines.

As part of the company’s typical “first-day” restructuring requests, it will be seeking court approval to continue paying suppliers, vendors, and employees in the ordinary course on a go-forward basis.