Fundraiser for LFS Survival

Hi everybody,

My name is Sydney and I own a fitness studio for women and non-binary folk called La Femme Strong in Toronto.

For the past 8 years, LFS has grown from a tiny dream into a real community. And together we have undergone SO many changes! The biggest, of course, was when the pandemic hit and we scrambled to learn the internet and go online. During that time, the studio's building was sold, and I was forced to make a tough decision to change locations and move to a MUCH smaller space.

And we made it work! But once the world started to open up again, it was immediately clear that the space I had found was FAR too small to accommodate everybody coming back. So I made a deal with the landlords that we would put it back on the market, and I would continue to pay rent until the space was rented. Unfortunately, I made this deal without the assistance of a lawyer, as I felt that the landlords were working well with me, and it seemed pretty straightforward.

What I did not anticipate was a complete lack of effort from the real estate agent, and the landlord's lack of attention. In retrospect, I realize that I made a deal where I had all of the stakes, but zero power. It took over a month and a half and my request for the agent to put up a "For Lease" sign, there were zero showings in over 100 days, acquaintances of mine called the agent and left messages about the space that were never returned... I began advertising the space myself and had lots of interest - I even found them a tenant who wanted to rent it, and they were turned down. This space was costing me over $120 per day, meanwhile I was also renovating our brand new Queen St. space (and paying Queen St. rent) with what money LFS was pulling in - which, in our post-Covid world, was not enough.

So in August I made a decision with the advice of a lawyer. I had negotiated in good faith with the landlords, and they were not keeping up their end of the deal. I was out of money. So I sent the landlords a letter stating that I could no longer continue to pay rent, that they had not kept their end of the deal, and that my last month rent check should be put toward September.

Fast forward a bit, and the landlords have sued me. And though we have not yet completed our negotiations, I have enough information to know that the final amount LFS will have to pay in settlement/legal fees is well above $15,000. Possibly way more if litigation is necessary.

I'm not great at asking for help, but this amount of money is devastating for the business, and I'm truly not sure how I can make it work. The move and renovations have already put LFS into debt, and there is no more money/credit/anything to go around.

So before things get extremely dire - I'm asking that if you love our little community and want us to make it through this, and have an extra couple of dollars - it would help SO much. Everything will go toward legal costs, as they continue to rise.

It kills me to ask, but if we can get this lawsuit out of the way, our space IS on track to thrive! But without some help, the debt will be unmanageable. I know it's tough for everyone right now, and I completely understand if you don't have anything to spare at this time.

Thanks for listening, and I promise I am doing everything I can to steer our community to a happy and thriving 2023!