Nike Studio will take over existing health clubs, refitting and rebranding them / Nike
Nike has made the leap into the group fitness market with the launch of Nike Studios.
The offering – in partnership with FitLab – is being billed as “a new generation of group fitness for every body and every goal.” Classes will be led by Nike trainers.
The first physical locations will be in West Hollywood, LA, and upmarket Newport Beach in Southern California, near the headquarters of FitLab.
Nike Studios will take over and rebrand existing health clubs, enabling it to fast-track the rollout of its studios. The West Hollywood location will open at Sanctuary Fitness – a FitLab brand – although Sanctuary will retain its locations in Pasadena and Korea Town. The Newport Beach location is thought to be taking over the site of Rocket Science Fitness.
Clubs will be refitted with Nike Grind Flooring, new lighting and decor, as well as a range of equipment thought to be from Assault Fitness.
Nike is in talks with other health club operators to re-skin their operations, saying: “We’ll continue to evaluate locations where we have the best opportunity to connect with consumers through premium services, experiences and products.”
The business arrangements between Nike and the health club operators are not yet clear, although Nike says “prices are dependent on location” and “merchandise bought at Nike Studios can’t be returned to Nike stores”, suggesting that some kind of arm’s length arrangement will be in place.
A Founder Membership fee of $US49 will entitle early joiners to get unlimited classes for US$99/month as part of a pre-sale offer, along with a free swag bag containing a limited-edition Nike Studio T-shirt, a US$25 Nike gift card, a drawstring bag and water bottle.
Post opening, prices will double to US$200/month. Nike says it will also be offering more flexible options, including “drop-in classes and a tiered pricing model”.
The company plans to implement an all-access, ‘nationwide’ membership when enough sites have opened, indicating that the initial rollout is likely to be US-, rather than globally-focused.
The month-to-month memberships will be cancellable at any time with 10 days’ notice.
Nike will work with FitLab as its partner on the delivery on an omnichannel element, with home workouts part of the package and will also be delivering a “calendar of fun and motivating social fitness events”.
Two sub brands will be in play – Nike Training Studios (NTS) and Nike Running Studios (NRS), with NTS offering HIIT and strength workouts using weights, kettlebells, sleds and sandbags to deliver classes that “rotate muscle groups to avoid overtraining” and NRS locations offering endurance workouts and classes between treadmills and floor exercises, a la Barry’s. The running studios will also feature big screens delivering “competitive features”.
Classes will be ‘life-proofed’ with programming rotated to keep members “moving toward their goals without ever burning out” and staff will be certified in the Nike Training curriculum, while also being ‘experts in movement and motivation’.
“Movement should feel joyful and Nike Training Studio was built to be a fitness playground, offering state-of-the-art tools to keep every movement fresh, fun, and effective,” says Nike.
The sportswear giant has been signalling its intention to tackle the sector for some time, as it pivots its offering to holistic wellness and ‘training as a sport’.
In June, Nike announced plans to hire 1,000 fitness instructors globally.
The launch of Nike Studios follows Nike’s entrance into the live streaming market in December 2022 when it launched Nike Training Club on Netflix, followed by a deal with Strava in May. Nike’s retail outlets have also since been rebranded as Nike Well Collective.
Nike Studios is not to be confused with Nike Studio, a boutique retailing concept the company is rolling out in major world cities.
