SoulCycle Shifts Gears, Announces 19 Studio Closures & Layoffs

According to leaked audio from an internal SoulCycle meeting, the fitness brand believes it may have oversaturated some markets

SoulCycle has joined Peloton, Hydrow, Tonal and F45 in announcing layoffs. SoulCycle CEO Evelyn Webster informed employees at an All Hands meeting that the Equinox-owned fitness company will close 19 studios in the United States and Canada. Webster did not say how many SoulCycle employees would be affected by the layoffs.

At one point in 2014, SoulCycle reported that each studio generated approximately $4 million a year in revenue.

“The timing was appropriate to look at our studio footprint by market to understand whether we continue to believe that we had indeed oversaturated some markets, and the conclusion is that after much work and analysis that perhaps we have,” Webster said, according to Insider, who say the leaked audio of the meeting was shared with them.

“Unfortunately, this does mean given the number of studios and the number of markets that we’re talking about, that this will ultimately lead to a number of our teammates losing their employment with SoulCycle,” Webster added. 

SoulCycle is rumored to be planning to relocate some of its employees to other studio locations. Roughly 75 SoulCycle employees are expected to be laid off, but high profile instructors will remain, reports The New York Post.

The SoulCycle closures include locations in New York, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., Illinois, Georgia, Florida, Washington, California, and Toronto. Six of the closures will be in the New York City area. 

According to a SoulCycle spokesperson who spoke to the NY Post, the workforce reduction was caused in part by shifts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One such change was due to geography, as some riders have relocated and no longer live near a SoulCycle studio.

Devoted SoulCycle fans took to a riding page on Reddit, discussing their favorite locations closing. While disappointed, there appeared to be some understanding at certain SoulCycle locations that were closing, like Soma, California. “I just started going back to work in SF and they’re closing SOMA :(. Not surprisingly, it was dead,” one West Coast poster wrote. “Yeah. Downtown has not recovered at all, so keeping SOMA is a hard sell,” another poster agreed.

Earlier this month, SoulCycle attempted to compete with Peloton by offering a competitive deal that let new clients trade in their Peloton bikes for 47 SoulCycle classes.

According to Insider, the following locations will close:

New York:

• Grand Central
• Soho
• Park Slope
• West 92nd Street
• Hamptons – Water Mill 
• Long Island – Woodbury

California:

• Soma
• San Jose
• Beverly Hills
• Newport Beach
• Del Mar

Washington, DC

• Mount Vernon

Illinois:

• Southport
• North Shore 

Massachusetts:

• Dedham

Florida:

• Tampa

Georgia:

• Atlanta – Ponce City Market 

Washington state:

• Seattle, University Village 

Canada:

• Toronto – Yorkville