Franchisees Embrace Lindora, Xponential’s New Metabolic Health Brand
Partnership
Sponsored By Xponential Fitness
Lindora’s early franchise partners include former tech product specialists, consulting firm partners, entrepreneurs, CEOs and founders, a testament to the booming metabolic health and weight loss markets
As the world’s largest boutique fitness and wellness franchisor, Xponential Fitness is no stranger to promising new business ventures in the health sector. The brand’s latest and most daring acquisition, Lindora, is already beginning to pay off as the metabolic health and weight loss markets explode.
Xponential purchased the leading provider of medically guided weight loss and metabolic health solutions in late 2023, marking the brand’s most significant step outside the traditional boutique fitness space and into the broader wellness arena. This diversification of Xponential’s portfolio has already laid the foundation for a lucrative future, including introducing new franchise owners into a growing pipeline.
A New Wave of Franchisees
With metabolic health emerging as a new point of concentration in the fitness and wellness space, Xponential has been able to reel in Lindora franchise partners including former tech product specialists, consulting firm partners and actuaries, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and company founders.
“Lindora has franchise agreements with owners from diverse backgrounds including technology, software development, real estate, marketing and sales, personal training, and finance,” said Lou DeFrancisco, Lindora President. “This broad adoption underscores the appeal of the investment opportunity, aligning with Xponential’s overarching network of owners.”
The Lindora team views the increased buzz around wellness as a driving force behind this phenomenon. Xponential’s documented history of taking brands to the next level is a contributing factor as well. The franchisor has grown 2017 acquisition StretchLab to 400+ studios after it had just three in 2018, for example.
DeFrancisco, who served as president of StretchLab during its early growth, sees some similarities between the assisted stretching franchise and Lindora.
“Similar to our launch of StretchLab, this diverse owner group all share a passion for health and wellness, and to make a difference in people’s lives and the communities they live in,” he said.
“(Lindora) franchise owners see the value in the overall investment opportunity because of the increasing consumer demand for more holistic, integrated health and wellness services, the growing consumer awareness of the importance of longevity practices like improving one’s metabolic health, as well as the confidence in Xponential’s success in scaling boutique health and wellness brands while providing exceptional support,” DeFrancisco added.
Lindora’s own name and the prestige it carries generate attraction as well.
“Lindora has a very long and rich history in the marketplace with 50+ years of offering innovative services such as weight management programs, weight loss medications, hormone replacement therapy, IV hydration, and more,” noted DeFrancisco. “With 31 locations open, it has established itself as a trusted brand in the health and wellness industry improving many lives across millions of client visits.”
Lindora recently inked multi-unit license agreements in locations such as Dallas, Boise, Idaho, Rochester, Buffalo, Atlanta, Chicago and Portland (Oregon). It’s a strong next step for the brand, which already has 30 clinics open in Southern California and another in Washington.
Plenty of Room for Growth
While Xponential is already pleased with Lindora’s progress, there’s reason to believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. Holistic health is becoming a bigger and bigger draw every day, and Xponential is thrilled to have a horse in the race.
The United States boasts the world’s largest wellness economy, valued at $1.8 trillion, according to a new report from The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) in partnership with the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), suggesting Xponential’s bet on Lindora will age well.
“The pandemic caused a shift in people’s awareness and demand for better overall health and wellness, and from that has come an expanded definition of what ‘health and wellness’ means for consumers and how it ties directly to longevity,” said DeFrancisco. “Healthy weight management is now widely understood as a core aspect of promoting longevity and overall metabolic health.”
As DeFrancisco noted, Lindora’s expansion comes as the weight loss industry in particular surges in popularity in the U.S. and across the world, including GLP-1 drugs as well as more holistic approaches to weight management.
The brand just announced its first-ever “Countdown to Summer Challenge,” which should only fuel that fire. The initiative encourages members to enroll in a wellness membership and begin a 10-week weight loss challenge aimed at helping them reach a personal goal. Personalized nutritional coaching, meal plans, exercise recommendations and check-ins to track progress are all provided.
“While Lindora offers other services, weight loss and management is the core offering, and given the projected global weight management industry is $400 billion, there is a huge opportunity to scale Lindora through franchising,” he added. “Given Lindora’s success over its 50+ year history as a medically guided provider, we see this as a unique consumer and franchisee value proposition.”