The pandemic has presented many challenges for small businesses, including forcing some of them to close. For Sweat Equity Ltd., though they closed, they left a strong legacy behind in the community.
Rita and Jeff Sachs, owners of the fitness center at 2413 183rd St., met in high school at 16, where they became lifelong sweethearts.
They both worked in clothing, and after working through various positions in the industry, the couple decided to open their own business in Homewood in 1979. This helped them reach their goal of being business owners before they were 30.
Though they were successful with the store, J. Alan Sachs, the couple did not believe it would create a path to retirement. Leaning on his knowledge of marketing, Jeff knew that they had to transition to something that would last.
Noticing the trend of personal training becoming more popular, Jeff started one-on-one training as hobby in the back of the store.
With Jeff’s experience as a junior Olympian and Rita’s knowledge of equipment due to her father playing minor league baseball for the Boston Red Sox, their clientele base grew. This eventually led to the business transitioning from a clothing store to personal training facility in 1990.
“We were a profitable business that just decided to close because the fitness business was more profitable,” said Jeff.
Over the 30 years as a fitness business, while the need to support their family was important, the passion of serving others is what kept them going. The couple have impacted the lives of many. Their clients ages ranged from 40 to 80, with a majority being 50 to 60 years old.
“It’s almost cathartic to talk about it,” said Rita. “We loved our business, and we loved our clients.”
In mid-March 2020, Rita and Jeff decided to take a personal trip for the first time in a while. Unfortunately, the looming pandemic made it difficult to stay away too long.
After receiving updates on the situation from staff members, the couple arrived home on March 20, the same day that Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced his “stay-at-home” order for Illinois.
Once the restrictions were lifted, the growing demands to provide personal protective equipment for the facility, the constant learning curve and mandated orders for gyms made it difficult to maintain a profitable business.
The most important thing for Rita and Jeff was the safety of their clients, staff and themselves. Sweat Equity officially closed on Dec. 31, 2020.
“To lose that family we had was one of the more difficult things because you have this grief for the people you saw every day,” Rita said. “We loved being here, we loved servicing people for all these years, and we loved our clients and our staff.”
Though the closure of Sweat Equity was not ideal, the outreach of continued friendship in the community they developed keep them hopeful. The couple is now looking forward to retirement plans.
Jeff plans to spend more time with his band, the Newports. The band was started in high school and was revived in 2014.
Depending on the pandemic outlook, the band plans to continue performing across Illinois, Indiana and Michigan by the end of August.
Rita is finishing up necessary paperwork to close the business and looks forward to finding her retirement activity.
After giving thought to moving to a warmer area, Rita and Jeff decided to stay in Homewood.
“Homewood was a great support to us, as well as the South Suburbs as a whole,” said Jeff. “It is such a diverse wonderful community that we thought this is where we wanted to stay the rest of our lives.”