‘No response’: Yoga Inc shutters SAFRA Punggol outlet, cancels classes at Our Tampines Hub

SINGAPORE – Boutique yoga studio Yoga Inc appears to have shuttered, with some instructors informed on Sept 18 that operations have ceased with immediate effect.

According to its website, Yoga Inc, founded in 2013, has two outlets – at Our Tampines Hub and SAFRA Punggol.

In a note to staff seen by The Straits Times, Yoga Inc’s management said the company “will cease operations with immediate effect”.

The e-mail, sent on the night of Sept 18, stated that Yoga Inc “does not have sufficient funds” to make payments.

It added that the company was unable to provide a date by which outstanding amounts, including salaries and contractor invoices, would be paid.

Customers who spoke to ST said they had received no information about what would happen to their unused packages.

Checks by ST on the website on the morning of Sept 18 showed that classes at both locations had been cancelled.

When ST checked the website again at about 1.30pm, the class schedule page had been deleted, leaving customers unable to book classes.

Yoga lessons were also unavailable for booking on fitness booking platforms Mindbody and ClassPass.

SAFRA Punggol said in a Facebook post at 2.40pm that the outlet was “closed till further notice due to operational issues”.

The lights were off and the door was locked when ST visited the Our Tampines Hub branch at around 5.30pm.

But there were no visible notices about the studio’s closure.

As at 2pm on Sept 18, the company’s Instagram account had been deleted. Its final post, dated July 6, advertised a 10-class package for $210.

In response to queries, Yoga Inc founder Ashly Lou, who no longer owns the business, said instructors she had worked with were informed of the closure on the morning of Sept 18.

Founded in 2013 by Lou, Yoga Inc expanded to six outlets across Singapore at its peak, employing more than 30 instructors.

Lou, who ran the business on her own, told ST that she became exhausted and had sold the company to two of her long-time team members, including an instructor and an admin staff member, in February 2021.

She added that Yoga Inc had since been resold to a company that owns indoor cycling studio Revolution.

Public business directory records show that Yoga Inc is listed as a brand under Studio9, which has the same registered address as Revolution’s Tanjong Pagar studio.

Phone calls by ST to both of Yoga Inc’s outlets went unanswered on the afternoon of Sept 18.

Records from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority show that Yoga Inc was struck off the register on Oct 6, 2025.

Customers not informed by studio

Edric Liew, a 36-year-old freelance instructor who taught at Yoga Inc for more than 10 years, said he had yet to be paid for August.

Another instructor, who has been with the studio for more than three years and did not want to be named, also said she had not received her August pay, which is usually sent out on the 15th of every month.

Liew added that the company did not inform customers of the closure and that they learnt about it only from their instructors.

“I feel sorry for the students... there was no lead time,” Liew said. “They did not have time to finish their packages, and now management is uncontactable.”

According to Liew, one class at 9.15am had taken place at the Tampines outlet on Sept 18, but all other classes have since been cancelled.

The instructor who conducted that morning class, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told ST he received a Mindbody app notification about upcoming class cancellations for the next few days just before his session began.

“When I checked with the front desk, the staff member said she had been instructed by management to shut down operations with immediate effect right after my session,” he said.

He added that none of the 10 students present had been informed of the sudden closure prior to the class.

“Out of goodwill and the friendships I’ve built with them over so many years, I decided to go ahead and conduct the class anyway,” he said.

Angela Moghe, a customer who had been practising yoga at Yoga Inc for more than two years, said the studio did not contact her despite her having a noon class scheduled for Sept 19.

“I e-mailed yesterday, but there has been no response,” the 57-year-old associate lecturer said.

Moghe had paid $405 for 20 classes in a special deal package bought in April. To date, she had attended only two classes, leaving her with 18 unutilised classes worth roughly $365.

She last attended a class on Sept 12 at the Tampines branch. There were no indications of an impending closure then, Moghe added.

Another student, who wished to remain anonymous, echoed the comments, saying that operations appeared to be running smoothly during her last lesson on Sept 14.

She was not informed of the closure by the studio and only heard the news from friends who are instructors there, she said.

The student, who has been taking lessons at Yoga Inc since 2018, still has 19 unutilised classes in her pre-paid package worth $513.

Meanwhile, a 42-year-old student who declined to be named had 38 unutilised classes worth more than $1,000.

She originally had a class scheduled for Sept 18 at the Tampines outlet. But before the lesson, she received an e-mail notifying her that the class had been cancelled.

Still, she headed to the studio to check.

“When I went down, everything inside was still there as if it had just been closed for the day. No notification was pasted on the glass door,” she said.

Employees and customers ST spoke to also said that two other branches, in Tanjong Pagar and Bedok, had closed unexpectedly in the last few months.

The news comes after a spate of recent fitness chain shutdowns.

Earlier in September, customers and employees of True Fitness and True Yoga were left in the lurch after the businesses unexpectedly shuttered. Many members were left with unused packages and services, reporting losses of more than $609,000.

Hundreds of employees and freelance instructors who worked for the True Group lost their jobs overnight.

ST has contacted Yoga Inc, the Consumers Association of Singapore, the Singapore Fitness Alliance, the Ministry of Manpower and the National Trades Union Congress for more information.