Our round-up of the latest Wellesley, Mass., business news.

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Prime Fitness leaving Wellesley, cites COVID-19

Prime Fitness & Nutrition has announced that it is closing its location at 259 Washington St. in Wellesley and consolidating with its Wayland facility, about a 10-minute drive away.

“The Wellesley studio has been through a lot in the last year and unfortunately, the virus has pushed us over the edge financially,” Founder Emily Kaplan wrote to members this week.

The Wellesley spot, which previously went by the name of Get in Shape for Women, has “helped hundreds of women reclaim their health and reach their goals. It is very hard to have to close it,” she writes. Membership payments have been paused.

Prime’s lease had been winding down. The Wayland location features more sunshine and room, plus easy parking, according to Prime.

Pine Manor has Wellesley roots

You may have read recently that Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill is struggling financially and the coronavirus crisis is making things worse, according to the New England Commission of Higher Education and the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education.

“Owing to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the College’s financial situation has become uncertain, such that it cannot confirm that it can sustain full operations at the current levels beyond the current academic year. However, given the importance of its mission, the College, working with NECHE and DHE, intends to continue to work through the economic setbacks posed by the coronavirus to remain ‘home’ for its students.”

But perhaps you didn’t know that the school has Wellesley roots.

According to the school history page:

Pine Manor College was originally established as a post-secondary division of Dana Hall School in Wellesley in 1911 by the late Helen Temple Cooke, a pioneer dedicated to preparing women for successful lives. Today, the College offers bachelor’s and associate’s degrees, as well as a Master of Fine Arts degree. Its evolution has been one of planned growth linked to the evolution of expanding opportunities for women.

In 1930, the College received a charter as an independent junior college and in 1959 gained the right to confer the degrees of Associate in Arts and Associate in Science. Pine Manor Junior College became a separate corporation in 1962 and in 1965 moved from the Wellesley campus to its beautiful 60-acre campus in Chestnut Hill, five miles west of Boston.

More: Past Wellesley Business Buzzes