Hello!
It’s been a while, but there’s good reasons for that. Our baby boy was born December 26th and life has pretty much been a hazy whirlwind since then. He is amazing and we’ve started to get some intentional smiles, which is just magical, but as I write this, he’s also (finally) sleeping with a bit of a cold while wheezing, coughing, grunting, and farting, and the tortured sounds just break my heart. When I walk around now, I can’t help but think about the number of people I pass who have had children. It’s incredible that there are so many functioning humans out there! So to all of you who are parents, just wow (and please send us wishes, prayers, spells – or whatever is your jam – for good sleep).
But back to business (if you’d like to hear more about non-business, let’s catch up!). Since I last wrote, The Peach has successfully incorporated and has a bank account! It took almost five months to get there but we made it past all the back and forth between accountants, bankers, through holidays and miscommunications. In theory, the process probably could have been completed in 3 weeks, but it just goes to show how important it is to plan time for the unexpected (such as waiting for a snail mail letter to arrive so you can activate your phone number for the bank account so you can 2FA into the account so you can finally access it). The second big update is that I’m really close to renting a space. I don’t want to jinx it, as there have been a few hiccups (another long story) and final details to resolve, but I am hopeful.
So with those updates out of the way, I’ll turn to the topic of this newsletter: what is this business and why should it exist? I’ve been getting this question a lot lately and realize that I actually haven’t published much about it. So it’s time to rectify that. Heads up that I’m getting into a fair amount of detail here, so if you’d like the TLDR version of the class model, you can now find that on the website.
The market (pole dance specifically and boutique fitness in general)
Let’s start by looking at this in general. What is boutique fitness and how does it differ from regular gyms? Here’s what ChatGPT has to say:
Boutique fitness refers to a type of gym or fitness studio that specializes in a specific type of workout, such as yoga, Pilates, indoor cycling, boxing, or high-intensity interval training (HIIT). These studios typically offer smaller class sizes, personalized attention, and a more upscale and intimate atmosphere compared to larger, traditional gym chains. Boutique fitness studios often focus on creating a unique and immersive experience for their clients, with high-end amenities, specialized equipment, and personalized coaching. Some studios also incorporate technology and data tracking to help clients track their progress and achieve their fitness goals. Boutique fitness has become increasingly popular in recent years, as more people seek a more personalized and specialized fitness experience. While boutique fitness studios may be more expensive than traditional gyms, many people find the added benefits and personalized attention to be worth the extra cost.
Why is the definition important? Because unlike big box gyms, which often compete in a race to the bottom 📉 with ever-cheaper memberships and free trials (unless you’re Equinox), boutique fitness studios compete through service differentiation and are thus not experiencing the same downward pressure on prices (we can save a discussion of ClassPass and similar aggregation services for a future letter).
The state of boutique fitness in Europe is shifting from infancy (the boom of independent yoga studios) to increasing maturity. Cities such as Amsterdam and London have well-developed boutique fitness markets, but in most cities there is plenty of space to enter (including Paris). In particular, there are opportunities in Nordic countries, which already have an affinity toward fitness memberships, growing markets (such as Austria and The Netherlands), and large cities (Paris, London, Berlin). The below graph shows population percentages with fitness memberships.
Since this is not limited to boutique fitness, I used what I have termed the Lulu Index to understand additional trends. If you’re not familiar with Lululemon, it’s a wildly popular athletics brand that has come to be associated with and embraced by the boutique fitness industry. (They also happen to make the leggings that I have lived my life in for the past 3.5 years, including during pregnancy until the day I gave birth, so if anyone on the Lulu team reads this and wants me to be a Brand Ambassador, yes I accept.)
Ok, so France/Paris is a good place to enter into boutique fitness. Now let’s take a look at competition in this market.
The most relevant aspects to gauge from the above table are the number of studios /density as well as the pricing structures and actual prices of studios. The number of studios a chain is able to open in Paris appears to be dependent on a variety of factors. My hypothesis is that these include the age of the business, the number of similar studios, the general popularity of the sport, the ability to hire instructors, and more. Thus, dynamo – one of the early cycling studios in Paris – has been able to open 8 locations, detracting large international chains such as SoulCycle. Pole Spirit Paris, on the other hand, has a single location because pole dancing is a niche sport that currently relies on highly skilled trainers who are difficult to come across.
While the number of studios varies quite widely, it is interesting that pricing schemes are fairly consistent across boutique fitness types and studios. Europe, compared to the US, relies more heavily on package pricing as opposed to monthly memberships. However, studios may offer very large packages of 30, 50, or even 100 sessions, often cutting class prices by 30-50% for the benefit of locking customers in for an extended period of time.
Per session prices in Paris range from €16.50 to €30 fairly consistently, with the exception of aqua by, which has a drop-in price of €35 (because yes, a spin class in a dark room in a pool can demand a certain price premium). There is thus a fairly clear price point that The Peach is able to base its model on.
It is also interesting to note that there is no correlation between a chain’s social media following, the number of locations, pricing, and the type of sport (which determines the number of students per class).
Now that we’ve looked at boutique fitness more generally, a quick note on pole dance/fitness: Pole is rapidly growing into a recognized player in the boutique fitness industry. If you survey your friends and family, I’m fairly sure you’ll pretty quickly find someone who has either taken a class, who has a close friend who dances, or whose daughter took a pole class for her friend’s bachelorette party last year. Despite this, even fairly developed pole dance markets such as NYC, London, or Paris only have a handful of studios and they are highly focused on athleticism and teaching circus-level skills. And if we’re being honest, the potential market of customers who want to hang three meters up in the air from one knee while touching their head to their butt is just going to be limited! (If you think I’m exaggerating, google “pole dance rainbow marchenko” and while you’re at it, check out the “spatchcock.”)
OK Tamar, but what about The Peach?
Here’s my spiel. First-time pole dance students (if they make it past the “but I have no upper body strength hurdle”) discover that pole fitness is an intensive workout that is fun and confidence-inspiring. However, for most students, the novelty quickly wears off and the competition-level athleticism demanded by most pole studios in order to progress pushes them away. Other players in the boutique fitness industry tend to create environments that are highly exclusive (e.g. SoulCycle) or, on the other end of the spectrum, low-energy (e.g. many yoga classes). The potential for more inclusive, less competitive, and more fun fitness alternatives is significant and pole fitness provides a remarkable tool to bridge this gap.
Enter: The Peach.
At The Peach, rather than taking levels-based classes and being encouraged to “move up,” students will choose from a variety of theme-based classes (e.g. “Britney vs Madonna”, “90s Hip Hop”). These classes will be taught in such a way that both beginner and advanced students will benefit and be motivated. Furthermore, the classes will be consistently structured, so that repeat customers know what to expect when they sign up, lowering the mental hurdle that many students face when taking exercise classes.
What’s more, The Peach is not about weight loss, it’s not about turning yourself into a Barbie, it’s not about New Year New Me. The Peach is about gaining confidence in who you are and discovering what your body is capable of all while having fun through movement; the workout is the how and not the why. The class model I’ve built is intended to break barriers and inhibitions, helping you to connect with yourself and with others. Wow that’s probably the cheesiest thing I’ve ever written about this business, but I mean it and I believe it.
So that is all for now. And your reward for making it this far? A picture of me and the little one at the hospital.
Love,
Tamar
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