Martejo Discount in Algonquin is back open after a brief closure, but the possibility of Crunch Fitness taking over the building still looms.

The discount dealer, located at 1561 S. Randall Road, announced a major business model change to online auctions after Crunch Fitness gained village approval to create at 24/7 health club in the same space in October. Martejo Discount Owner Joedy Martell started clearing out his inventory and closed the doors to his business in December.

But for unknown reasons, Crunch Fitness’ plans to take over the location stalled, leaving Martell in a business limbo. He decided to reopen in January, and has been slowly rebuilding his inventory. Now with a focus on online auctions on app.martejo.com and his eBay store under HooGotDeals, he uses the 30,000-square-foot building as a warehouse to hold the goods and for bidders to pick up the items.

Martejo Discount is a liquidation auction and retail store offering steep discounts on a range of items from furniture and home improvement items to everyday household goods like laundry detergent and toilet paper.

“I fill the void in this area because no one else is doing it,” Martell said.

He gets his inventory in bulk by networking with suppliers from big box stores to smaller dealers working out of their homes. The sellers unload unwanted overstock items that would possibly otherwise end up in landfills, leaving buyers with discounts of up to 90% off the retail price.

“The liquidation industry is its own animal,” he said.

Since reopening at the beginning of the year, the store has already held multiple auctions, each with hundreds of items. Mostly, all of the items get sold within days, and Martell said he draws in about 300 regular bidders.

Right now, Martell’s store, which used to be a Best Buy, is filled with heavily discounted patio furniture, rugs from Target and lighting from Home Depot.

“Every truckload is like Christmas,” he said, “It never gets old for me.”

As Martejo Discount’s future hangs in the balance, Martell is focused on ensuring his business model can be sustained without the retail shopping aspect. If he’s not able to stay at the current location, he will inform customers of his plans on the store’s community Facebook group, which has more than 9,000 members.

“I just know that we’re still here,” he said. “Right now, I’m just rolling with the punches.”

The village is waiting on Crunch Fitness “for payment and contractor information to be submitted before the permit is officially issued,” Community Development Director Patrick Knapp said in an email to Shaw Local.

Crunch Fitness has more than 500 gyms across the country, with nearby Illinois locations in Palatine, Schaumburg and Round Lake Beach, according to the business’s website. The health club offers group fitness classes, red light therapy, massages, a turf area, child care, personal training, locker rooms and saunas.