Boutique Fitness Is Reshaping — Can Studios Keep Up?
Studio growth is booming, but profitability remains elusive — Lise Kuecker shares what operators must do to flourish
The boutique fitness industry is changing at a fast pace, experiencing both expansion and growing pains. Lise Kuecker, founder and CEO, Studio Grow, recently shared her insights on the sector’s trajectory during a session at the HFA Show 2025, highlighting its continued growth, shifting market dynamics, and the critical challenges that studio owners must overcome to build sustainable businesses.
A Growing Market with Shifting Centers of Influence
“The greater boutique fitness industry was sitting at $107.1B (yoga), $51.6B (boutique fitness), with a 9.4% growth rate, roughly 30% higher than the rest of routine fitness,” said Kuecker. “If we look ahead for the next 5 years, that’s no longer holding. Market share is shifting, with yoga alone at 37.2% in the APAC region, excluding India — which itself is building significant market share.”
Kuecker pointed to Pilates as a dominant force in studio openings, saying, “Fast forward to 2025, Pilates will make up 46% of new studio openings, yoga — largely hot yoga — at 27%, cycling dropping to 4%, and barre down to just 2%. Interestingly, the ones who are surviving in those categories are the best of the best, and they’re still thriving.”
She also noted the growing role of strength training, stating that it was “booming,” and largely driven by consumer demand. Yet, as boutique fitness expands, the real question is whether these businesses can achieve sustainable profitability.
The Profitability Dilemma
Despite boutique fitness’s appeal, Kuecker warns that financial sustainability remains elusive for many operators.
“At the end of 2023, a really staggering statistic was released that 91.2% of boutique fitness studios were not sustainably profitable. We roll past this all through 2024, and the number is correct. In fact, I think we can definitely say it is not changing. One in two studios is profitable. It is the biggest issue that we have in our industry today.”
One of the biggest culprits? A high churn rate.
“Client retention is hovering still at about 9% overall and enrolling 13-month remission rate. That means that you’re losing roughly 7.5% of your clients every single month. That means you will be replenishing your studio every single year.”
She also highlighted the struggles faced by first-time entrepreneurs.
“Rather than seeing a shift, I’m expecting an explosion of new studios, largely being opened by first-time entrepreneurs and people who are brand new in the industry. You can actually see these numbers dip down for the next 3 years and then start to climb back upwards.”
Keys to a Strong Launch: The Importance of Pre-Sales
Kuecker emphasized that a strong pre-sale strategy is a crucial predictor of studio success.
She outlined three key phases:
- Building anticipation – “Waitlist, 12 to 16 weeks before you open, you start a waitlist, you start gathering information, you get them excited, prepped, ready to go.”
- Pre-sale execution – “Start 6 weeks out from there. Your job is to sell as many family memberships and literally leave you with some strong recurring revenue going into this.”
- Maximizing the Grand Opening – “That’s the first 90 days after opening. This is where you should absolutely crush it.”
She warns against over-reliance on automated sales processes.
“Almost everyone that we saw this year in pre-sale was relying on an automation-driven sales process. They didn’t have a sales team reaching out. They weren’t laying out the value in front of people.”
Location, Pricing & Labor
Another major hurdle for boutique fitness businesses is real estate.
“Studio owners are signing leases they can’t afford, and then they wonder why they’re struggling to turn a profit,” Kuecker said. “Lower-rent markets are becoming increasingly attractive because operators can offer competitive pricing without being crushed by overhead costs.”
She also pointed to a worsening labor crisis in boutique fitness.
“For every three open positions, there’s less than one highly qualified instructor available,” she said. “The pandemic wiped out a lot of experienced talent, and many newer instructors simply don’t have the training depth we saw a decade ago.”
According to Kuecker, the key to building a strong team is internal training and retention.
“If you’re not investing in your people, you’re going to feel the consequences. Studios that offer salaries and benefits will have a serious advantage in the coming years.”
Trends Reshaping Boutique Fitness
Looking ahead, Kuecker highlighted several key trends that are shaping the future of boutique fitness:
Strength training’s expansion – “Strength training post-pandemic is booming. ClassPass saw a 94% increase in bookings for strength-based classes. It remains in the top three class types booked in the U.S.”
Women’s health-focused studios – “Women are not small men (Stacy Sims, MSc, PhD). The last 100 years of research would have had you believe otherwise. Looking at this, it’s important to know that women are growing up, especially the women that really founded fitness.”
Medical fitness integration – “We are seeing many of the major brands in fitness buy metabolic health providers. The question we need to ask is: Where should medicine and fitness fit within our brands?”
Personalized & differentiated experiences – “We sell the same modalities, but it’s starting to feel like we’re selling the same experience. And if you’re a marketer in fitness, you know just how dangerous that is.”
Luxury & experiential fitness – “Luxury isn’t always about ‘expensive.’ It is about the very best experience. The ultimate luxury that we have right now, though, without a doubt, is limited edition. Pop-ups have been performing better than ever.”
A Sustainable Future for Boutique Fitness
For boutique studios to thrive, Kuecker believes that operators need to focus on business fundamentals.
“Marketing is your lifeblood. If you do not get this right, you lose everything else.”
She also urged studio owners to rethink their employment models.
“If you want the best instructors, you need to pay them like professionals. Salaries, benefits and structured career paths will become non-negotiables.”
While boutique fitness faces challenges, Kuecker remains optimistic about the industry’s ability to adapt.
“Our thought process is really simple. We can open almost any studio profitably if we do it right from the beginning. Now this year, we’re going to open between 92 and 145 studios in 12 different countries. All of them are right on track to open prosperously, meaning that we’re going to open more than just about any other brand in the world in boutique fitness.”
She also emphasized that the best operators are those who focus on financial strategy as well as growth.
“The best operators are the ones who are truly focusing on their profitability and understand that growth without a financial strategy is not sustainable.”