Participants work out at Barry’s Bootcamp at Red Studios in Los Angeles.
Wally Skalij | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
As the boutique health sector begins to buckle, Barry’s Bootcamp on Monday introduced new funding from Princeton Equity Group.
“The motive why this [boutique fitness] works for Barry’s is that our positioning within the market is premium,” stated Joey Gonzalez, Barry’s co-CEO, in an interview with CNBC. “We all the time wish to reduce dangers to any type of model dilution, and we solely ever wish to elevate the Barry’s expertise.”
Gonzalez stated this funding spherical will probably be centered on investing in consumer expertise and model positioning in a extremely saturated business. Barry’s presents high-intensity working, lifting and coaching courses in its trademark red-lit rooms.
Barry’s has 89 studios globally that noticed greater than 7 million visits in 2024.
Princeton is a franchisor and shopper services-focused non-public fairness agency that has $1.3 billion in property beneath administration, it stated. It has invested in different wellness manufacturers akin to spa chain Massage Envy and athletic coaching facility D1 Training.
The dimension of the funding was not disclosed.
The contemporary capital for Barry’s provides to a listing of personal fairness investments courting again a decade from companies together with LightBay Capital and North Castle Partners.
Gonzalez stated Barry’s will use the funding partly to fund enlargement in 12 U.S. cities this yr, together with Charleston, South Carolina; Hoboken, New Jersey; and Salt Lake City, in addition to areas in Madrid, Athens and Dublin.
“[This partnership] is enabling us to consolidate our operations within the UK and Canada,” Gonzalez stated. “We will now be overseeing operations in these nations the place we will foster a intently knit neighborhood and create efficiencies.”
The broader international boutique health studio market was valued at almost $48 billion in 2023 and is anticipated to develop to $86 billion in 2030, in keeping with estimates from Research and Markets. Still, a number of high-profile manufacturers have struggled to develop their buyer base.
Xponential Fitness, a franchisor of well being and wellness manufacturers, divested from two struggling boutique chains — Stride Fitness and Row House — final yr.
Jefferies analyst Randal Konik cited business headwinds together with macroeconomic considerations that would trigger a pullback in shopper spending, and stated health has confirmed to be extra need-based with extra folks prioritizing well being and wellness.
“Tailwinds would be the concentrate on well being and wellness popping out of Covid,” Konik stated, “in addition to a transfer in the direction of energy coaching, [which] has lifted demand for every type of health courses and gymnasium membership.”
Piper Sandler analyst Korinne Wolfmeyer cited “uncertainty round unit progress” at Xponential as one of many foremost causes to remain on the sidelines of the inventory.
Gonzalez stated his firm is bucking the development.
“I consider Barry’s as one of many originals, and a really back-to-basics strategy to health with efficacy on the coronary heart,” stated Gonzalez. “What Barry’s has actually performed is stick with our core competency: health expertise, immersive expertise, member expertise.”
Correction: Barry’s Bootcamp co-CEO Joey Gonzalez stated, “We all the time wish to reduce dangers to any type of model dilution, and we solely ever wish to elevate the Barry’s expertise.” A earlier model of this text misquoted Gonzalez. Also, Princeton Equity Group stated it has $1.3 billion in property beneath administration. A earlier model misstated the quantity.
