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What Opportunities Await as Nike Enters the Fitness Studio Space?
The intersection between fitness and wellness is a natural fit for retailers in the activewear space. Nike will tap into the synergy of its products and gym services with Nike Studios, a boutique fitness concept created in partnership with FitLab that is set to open its first location in Los Angeles later this year.
Nike Studios will offer two options to help members choose the workout they need. Nike Training Studio focuses on full-body training and conditioning through exercises like lifting weights and pulling sleds, while Nike Running Studio will feature cardio-enhancing treadmills and large screens to help participants track each other’s efforts for competition or encouragement.
The spaces will put an emphasis on small class sizes in local neighborhoods to spotlight the sense of community. Classes will be run by dedicated trainers, and each workout will be designed to let members take it at their own pace to accommodate people of all fitness levels and experience.
Memberships will cost $99 per month, and Nike is currently accepting Founding Member Reservations for a $49 enrollment fee. Founding Members receive an exclusive bundle as thanks for being early adopters, including a limited-edition T-shirt and a $25 Nike gift card.
Nike has kept quiet regarding further details on the boutique fitness center launch, but the company acknowledged that Nike Studios fit into its wider strategy, particularly the recently announced Nike Well Collective. The program is focused on delivering “innovation, expertise, services and experiences across body, mind and life” through investments in Nike’s five pillars of holistic fitness: movement, mindfulness, nutrition, rest, and connection.
Nike is no stranger to wellness and has successfully combined retail and fitness into a single cohesive whole. The retailer introduced the Nike Rise concept store, which includes broadcasts of information about local sporting events among its experiential features, in 2020 and brought it to the U.S. with a shop in Aventura, Florida, in 2022.
Other athletics-focused retailers have added the wellness touch to larger store concepts as well, such as DICK’S House of Sport and its dedicated in-store health and wellness destination.
Fitness content is likewise an area where Nike feels comfortable. The brand upgraded the Nike+ Run Club app back in 2016, connecting it with the Nike+ app to combine expert exercise advice with product recommendations. The service has continued receiving major updates, and it added connection to Strava to further enhance tracking and sharing features earlier in 2023.
Other retail-backed apps in this space include Under Armour’s MapMyFitness, which connects users to running paths, and Peloton’s revamped app, which has options for users without Peloton bikes.
Of course, wellness is a very broad topic, and Nike isn’t the only activewear retailer exploring the possibilities. Competitor lululemon has launched the Mental Wellbeing Global Advisory Board to help it develop best practices to improve mental wellbeing for communities and employees alike. While the connection between yoga gear and mental health may not be immediately obvious, lululemon noted that physical, mental, and social wellbeing are part of a greater whole — as well as that only 29% of respondents across a 10-market study said they have strong wellbeing across all three dimensions.
If that study is to be believed, there is a lot of work to be done — and plenty of opportunities for retailers like Nike and lululemon to provide valuable services while getting their brands out in front of consumers.
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: How can Nike Studios best build upon the experiences and technology Nike has already launched in the fitness space? What do athletics-adjacent retailers need to do to tie their well-focused experiences back to their core retail business to maximize the benefits?
Poll
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Katie Thomas
Lead, Kearney Consumer Institute
David Spear
VP, Professional Services, Retail, NCR
From gym memberships to studio classes, in-person fitness is a multibillion-dollar industry in the US. And it is growing. Despite a brief interruption from the pandemic, people are also extremely interested in community fitness and wellness which is why groups like Venice Run Club in California have become so popular. It seems like Nike is tapping into both trends with its studio plans. Given Nike already owns a big part of the fitness ecosystem it has every chance of being successful. However, it needs to ensure that studios feel organic and not overly corporate, it needs to keep things local so people feel connected, and it needs to be creative so people are inspired to pursue wellness. This is often easier said than done, but I feel that Nike has a better shot at this than many other brands would.
What is the motivation behind the fitness studios? Income? To just break even but raise awareness of the brand? Should customers expect something superior from the studios because Nike makes great footwear? If consumers are interested in fitness and wellness, do they have to subscribe to a Nike studio or will any clean, well-equipped place be sufficient?
Given that the fitness space is crowded, like so many other categories right now, I’ll be interested to see how Nike works to differentiate and attract consumers. In particular, they are sometimes burdened by their own “high performance” value prop in that it intimidates certain people who don’t consider themselves athletes. How will they effectively strike that balance, as these current classes still sound high performance?
My point, exactly. Do I NEED to go to a Nike Studio, or are there cheaper,eqyally-good alternatives already?
If there’s any sport/fitness-based company that could succeed in this boutique environment, it will be Nike. They have the resources, investment and data to carve a cool niche that could be enduring. I agree with Neil on the concept of keeping the studios organic and hyper localized. I belong to a local CrossFit gym and of the many reasons I continually go back to this place is because of its localized vibe, highly experienced, cool coaches and the organic connection to friendly faces who want to improve their fitness. If Nike can’t achieve this, the studio project will fall flat.
If Nike is looking at “…services and experiences across body, mind and life” that’s a pretty big universe. Brands don’t get much higher profile than Nike, so I think it’s great that they are trying to bring so many aspects of well being under one roof. Brand extensions can work, given the right brand with the right history and platform.
I’m surprised they haven’t done this sooner! Is the centers are a cool as the Nike corporate campus, they’ll be a success.
Nike studios seems like a logical brand extension that fits with its Nike Well Collective program that is focused on delivering “innovation, expertise, services and experiences across body, mind and life.” The key will be making the experience unique that is fun and differentiated for other gyms and studios. It is interesting that Nike has not acquired an exercise equipment company to extend its exercise portfolio. However, maybe it is because several of these companies like Peloton or Nautilus are not profitable.
As a way to encourage customers to use their products and try new activities this is amazing. UK sports wear retailer Sweaty Betty do yoga classes in their stores but Nike have the strength and capacity to do much more and thus become a much wider brand.
Partnerships like this reduce risk and give Nike the opportunity to learn. A simple “toe in the water”, but consistent with their direct to consumer initiatives. There are many operators in this space. The brand affinity alone leads some to go here vs. an alternative health and wellness operator. Other than branding, what clearly differentiates this concept from other more “intimate” venues? Creating adjacencies to the retail locations in order to sell direct would be one smart move to look for as the concept rolls out.
At the end of the day, Americans are fickle and cyclical about brands, apparel and fitness trends. Nike is riding a strong brand popularity wave right now. But construing this popularity to mean everyone loves them and therefore want them in many more aspects of their health journey is probably a stretch. The stores/centers will look gorgeous, though, just like the Nike stores of old I’m sure.
Fitness/health companies like Peloton who live in the space daily don’t force the topic of dominant apparel brand loyalty, of course, except for their own apparel, which isn’t a big seller.
Market the club around your celebrity endorsements and integrate all the technology and training equipment that you start seeing in your testing labs. That would be a unique experience with a premium. Train and track progress like Lebron or Cristiano Ronaldo. People don’t need just another gym and communities are only as good as the people in it.