The Boutique Fitness Boom

Boy, times certainly have changed. Back in the '70's, I bought my first pair of Tigers at Paragon, and a pair of shorts, and maybe a singlet, and that was it. I'd thought I'd dropped more than enough dough on workout stuff. The idea was to work out, do something that humans used to do for free. Henceforth, I sprang for new running shoes when necessary, by which I mean I could see the pavement through the soles of my sneaks. I'm still dragging my ancient butt around the Reservoir and the Big Loop in a tattered T-shirt. Cheapskate.

From second paragraph of "The 'Fitness Food Court'": (Let’s also take a quiet moment to reflect on boutique mental fitness, a.k.a. mediation studios — MNDFL in New York and Unplug in Los Angeles, where guided sessions of sitting quietly cost $24.) You do mean meditation studios not mediation studios, don't you?Or are mediation studios where attorneys work out?

This article has inspired me to find my leg warmers and watch my VHS Jane Fonda Workout, followed by popcorn and a viewing of the aerobics movie Perfect

Oy vey, I will deal with my $39 a month smelly, dirty, county jail demographics gym just so I never have to say I paid $36 for a single workout for myself. On the other hand, I do pay $199 for my millennial daughter membership to one of these boutique work out places.

A recent NY Times article on the research of Doctor Oliver Sacks (of Awakenings fame) detailed the scientific evidence of the healing power of nature. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/opinion/sunday/oliver-sacks-gardens.html For those who live anywhere near a natural area, try to get at least some of your exercise in nature. Each natural area is its own exercise boutique! A cross country ski pass is only $75 for the whole winter where I live. Cross country is not just the best cardio exercise in the world, but an adventure every time! In the summer walking up a steep hill in Vermont with arm weights on is free. As is biking the 20+ mile Lamoille Valley Rail Trail. Swimming in Lake Willoughby, also free, while while Crystal Lake and Lake Elmore are $4 entrance fee. Yes, I do have treadmill for the days when it is just too nasty to go outside. But I try to use it as little as possible!

My 'gym routine' is 3 days a week circut weight training, alternating with 3 days of 10 - 15 mile HITT biking rides. I do all that for 10$ a month at Planet Fitness. For 20$ a month I could use their tanning beds, massage chairs, and enjoy their 2.50 recovery drinks. AND all that while listening to my own taste in podcasts. I mean if people wanna pay 40$ to listen to LOUD music and pretend that it's 'social interaction' to be yelled at that's their business. But I don't see regular gyms going away anytime soon.

I spend most of my days trying to get through a worklist and meet productivity standards. The very last thing I want to do on my free time is spend $40+ so that yet another person can tell me what to do for an hour. I'll stick with my running shoes ($120 over 4-6 months) and letting my mind wander in fresh air without worrying about a fitness instructor barking orders at me, stressing about classes filling up, or being disappointed with my position on the studio floor.

These boutiques are very expensive options, both in time and money. We have had Peloton bike for two years and added the Tread as well. We have been very happy with the results and the experience. Huge savings in both time and money. My sense is that these fitness centers/boutiques are going to take a big hit from the coming wave of online based exercise and fitness choices. Much like what online shopping did to the mall retail.

This seems to be more evolutionary than new, not status driven, or at least not inordinately so, but appealing to the educated, ambitious, and mostly young, still striving. Also, as we get more tech-saturated, it is only natural that tech will be used in these class endeavors, as much as some classes eschew technology, like Pilates and yoga. I've been working out for over 30 years, catching the fitness wave a bit before it took over America, was certified as a trainer and for me, after exerting myself intensely, striving through running and orienteering, biking and hiking, found rowing in Princeton to be my sport, the pinnacle. To an outsider, rowing was a traditional, male sport of preppies, but from the inside, it looked quite different, a club that was 50% female, where discipline, effort, ambition, and education mattered, where few would be described as WASPs. I imagine attendees of these classes are not much different. To an outsider, participants are [put your favorite disdain here], but are in fact not much different than most of us, comparing them against what I imagine are NY Times readers and Manhattanites, albeit fitter, more ambitious, with maybe a bit more expendable income.

The demand is purely status-driven. They are gyms with the sound and lighting of a night club, and some extra gimmicks thrown in. And skinny young employees (again like a night club). It’s amazing what people will spend to feel like they belong to a community. When tastes change (as they always do) or budgets tight (as they often do), these boutique-fitness operators are in trouble. Just make sure you IPO first (see Peloton).

As the Leasing Agent for The Rye Ridge Shopping Center, which seems to be the prototype, according to your article, I thank you for recognizing our hard work and dedication that took years to accomplish. We lost quite a few of our stores during the financial crisis of 2008. It took all this time to build the shopping center back up to what it is today, little by little, lease by lease. We had to take a completely different approach and not go after cookie cutter national tenants and decided to make something different than a typical shopping center. We like to think of the center as a "Lifestyle Center" that is consistently evolving. We have some tenants who have been here for 30 years like the barber shop and bakery and we are always pursing the best of the new.

Sounds like some great workouts but fitness boutiques are geared toward top earner, urbanites. Peloton, while expensive upfront, is a much superior platform for a greater swath of the population, especially for those that don't live close to an urban center. Plus, you can work out on your own time and don't have to smell the person next to you.

I'm skeptical that most young people outside of these All Star cities have the disposable income to pay this kind of $$ on fitness classes.