SINGAPORE — The founder of Affinity Yoga, whose customers were caught off guard by the sudden closure of its two studios on Tuesday, said yesterday that they will reopen next week.

In a letter on the company’s Facebook page, Ms Jeanne Chung, Affinity Yoga’s founder, said it had never indicated that the studios would be closed permanently.

“I thought it was the judicious choice to close for a short period while we re-established the teaching team. If a studio does not have teachers to teach, then classes cannot be conducted. Apologies for abruptness but a decision needed to be made quickly,” she said in the letter.

On Tuesday, several customers who were supposed to attend classes at the River Valley Road and Telok Ayer Street studios were shocked to see their doors shut.

Notices were posted on the company’s website and on the doors of the two studios, announcing that classes would be suspended because most of its teaching team had left without giving notice.

It is unclear how many customers the company has.

Checks with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) showed that Affinity Yoga was registered in June last year, with Ms Chung, an American, listed as one of its directors.

Ms Chung told this newspaper yesterday that the company hopes to reopen its studios next week, with the same schedule for classes and the same number of instructors.

She added that current memberships will still be valid.

When asked why its instructors had left without giving notice and how refunds will be handled, Ms Chung declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Ms Haustead Nikki Shadforth, an Australian whose named appeared in ACRA’s records for Affinity Yoga, said yesterday that she is not a director of the Affinity Yoga studios. When asked about Ms Shadforth’s statement, Ms Chung declined to comment.

Several affected customers yesterday expressed relief that Ms Chung had issued a response, but had mixed feelings about the situation.

Ms Celina Low, 46, said: “I would love to get back to the studios as I made new friends there and they had good teachers. But I am also not sure if the same thing will happen again and I don’t know if it is stable. Ms Chung needs to address this.”

Another customer, who does not want to be named, said she will attend classes if they resume next week, but hopes to receive an explanation for what happened.

“If she (Ms Chung) really could not cope, she should have sent down someone at the desk to answer our questions. People would not have had to panic if this had been handled well,” she said.