ANALYSIS & COMMENT
Similar to boutiques, premium big boxes such as Third Space incorporate luxury touchpoints throughout their GX experiences
WINDS OF CHANGE
Boutique fitness expert Emma Barry shines a spotlight on the trends and dynamics shaping the global boutique market today
#1 Evolution of the model Fitness boutiques can claim responsibility for driving a lot of emotional and financial value into group fitness experiences over the last 15 years. In the developed markets, however, we are perhaps past ‘peak boutique’– the early and mid-2010s, when multiple boutiques sat alongside each other on the same block, little more than a sandwich board promoting them, and had a steady line of punters happy to part with the best part of $40 a pop, no questions asked.
Boutique fitness now feels like a tough sector. It is not alone in this – equipment companies, connected fitness concepts and digital fitness subscriptions are also going through the washing machine of change – but my unbridled pre-pandemic optimism has been tempered to a more balanced view. In the recent Boutique Fitness Solutions (BFS) State of the Industry Report, only 9.4 per cent of surveyed studios had a profit margin of 20+ per cent. Very few are making enough money to sustain themselves, reinvest in their product and insure against whatever the future brings.
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LONDON BOUTIQUE STUDIO REPORT 2023
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