StretchLab Continues Rapid Expansion, Hitting 400 Studio Mark
The Xponential Fitness brand has opened an assisted stretching location every three days in 2023
Assisted stretching is one of the top wellness trends of 2024, and StretchLab, one of the ten boutique fitness brands under the Xponential Fitness umbrella, has capitalized on that demand with the opening of its 400th location, in Colorado Springs.
The latest studio launch comes just eight months after StretchLab opened its 300th studio, indicating that assisted stretching is soaring in popularity. There’s no sign of slowing down for the Xponential brand — StretchLab has over 900 signed franchise agreements, with studios in development around the world.
Verdine Baker, StretchLab’s president, is the first to acknowledge that assisted stretching wasn’t on the mind of the average fitness consumer five years ago, with the modality once reserved for professional athletes. Since then, he says StretchLab has helped shift the perception of assisted stretching, making it an accessible boutique offering to hundreds of communities in “record time.”
“Since the pandemic, we have opened a studio every three days, demonstrating that there is extreme demand for assisted stretching as a recovery service, and we are so fortunate to partner with talented franchisees across the country to meet that demand,” Baker said.
Speaking to Athletech News over the summer, Baker credited the rapid success of StretchLab’s services in part to the immediate results and lasting effects that stretching brings.
The assisted stretching franchise offers individual and group-assisted stretching sessions for wellness enthusiasts of all fitness levels and ages who are in the hands of expert instructors. Dubbed “Flexologists,” StretchLab’s instructors are accredited by the Institute for Credentialing Excellence and hold nationally recognized certificates in assisted stretching.
StretchLab studios allow clients to achieve the deepest of stretches while using Physmodo MAPS technology, which tracks mobility, muscle activation, posture and body symmetry. The tech-forward approach allows StrechLab instructors to customize stretching programs for clients.
Terry Rackley, owner of StretchLab University Village, the new location in Colorado Springs, is excited to hold the brand’s 400th studio title, especially since there were only four StretchLabs open when he joined the brand. He’s had a front-row seat to the remarkable growth of the assisted stretching brand.
“This is our seventh StretchLab studio, and we have an amazing team already assembled that is passionate about their members and lives by StretchLab’s core values,” Rackley said. “I’m extremely proud of our team and look forward to helping serve our community.”
In addition to Colorado Springs, StretchLab recently opened studios in Huntsville, Alabama; Detroit, Michigan; Asheville, North Carolina; Seattle, Washington and Washington, D.C., among other cities.
On the international front, StretchLab has a global presence with deals signed in Australia, Canada, Mexico, Kuwait, Japan and on the high seas on Princess Cruises’ fleet of cruise ships.
