As consumers embrace contrast therapy, SWTHZ is scaling fast with surging franchise interest and a push into New York City’s core
At a time when most businesses pump the brakes for the holidays, one wellness franchise is hitting the gas.
SweatHouz (SWTHZ), a contrast-therapy franchise founded by Jamie Weeks, will open two new studios every week through the end of the year, bringing its wellness circuit to major cities in Florida (Miami and Naples), Texas (Austin and Houston), California (Los Angeles and San Diego), North Carolina (Charlotte), Arizona (Phoenix) and Ohio (Cleveland).
“People are looking for wellness that actually fits into their lives,” SWTHZ CEO Mike Tan said. “The privacy, the science and the luxurious design — that combination is what makes SWTHZ the future of recovery.”
Each suite includes an infrared sauna, a cold plunge and a vitamin C shower, creating a full 60-minute circuit visitors can move through at their own pace. Visitors can also personalize each session with adjustable lighting, sound and entertainment, giving them full control over the environment and the overall experience.
The session typically starts in the infrared sauna, which heats the body directly rather than warming the air. Temperatures can climb as high as 170°F, and sessions run up to 45 minutes.
From there, visitors rinse off with Vitamin-C infused water and then step into a chilled cold-plunge tub set between 48°F and 55°F. Most people spend just a few minutes per round, and SWTHZ recommends alternating between heat and cold multiple times.
Guests can join the session for an additional fee.
Tan added that franchise demand has surged, noting that a new 12-unit agreement in Lower Manhattan will put SWTHZ in the heart of New York City.
In its 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document, the brand points to a top-performing studio generating more than $1.2 million a year. The model is intentionally lean, with 7 to 8 employees per location and no medical licensing required.
The franchise says the investment to open a SWTHZ studio ranges from $569,757 to $1,193,974.
The brand now has more than 78 studios open across 25 states and more than 90 in the pipeline. Taken together, SWTHZ expects to hit 100 operating locations at the start of 2026, with additional territories underway in Virginia, Utah, Colorado and Connecticut.
The Recovery Space Gets More Crowded & More Creative
The broader temperature-driven recovery market is heating up, too. Michael Phelps–backed Chilly Goat Cold Tubs is pushing deeper into gyms and studios with hot-and-cold products built for both physical and mental recovery.
And the race isn’t limited to plunges either. Am-Finn, a longtime sauna and steam-room player, is rolling out its new Frost Locker, an enclosed cold room that delivers the physiological benefits of cold therapy without the shock or maintenance of water. The temperature-controlled space sits between 30 and 40 degrees, a range the company says can activate the body’s heat-production pathways while offering a calmer, more accessible entry point than a plunge.
The recovery boom is also getting more social. Othership, the Canada-founded hot-cold ritual brand known for breathwork and sober nightlife, is taking the category in a different direction with a 14,000-square-foot Upper East Side“social spa” slated for 2027. The concept blends communal bathing with sensory design, guided classes and nightlife energy, turning contrast therapy into a shared experience.
Beyond its locations in Toronto and New York, Othership is actively pursuing additional expansion in the Empire State and across other major U.S. cities, following its $8.5 million raise earlier this year.
Meanwhile, academics are turning up new findings on the mental-health implications of heat therapy.
Alongside the physical upsides that heat-and-cold devotees swear by, a new University of California San Francisco study found that pairing infrared sauna sessions with cognitive behavioral therapy led to major improvements for people with depression, with more than 86% of participants no longer meeting the criteria for major depressive disorder after an eight-week trial.
