Xponential Fitness Taps Morrow Hill To Lead Real Estate Strategy
The real estate partnership comes as Xponential trims its brand portfolio and prepares to report second-quarter earnings
Morrow Hill, a franchise-focused commercial real estate firm, has signed an exclusive partnership with Xponential Fitness to manage real estate strategy and expansion for the fitness franchisor’s portfolio of boutique brands, which includes Pure Barre, Club Pilates, StretchLab, BFT, YogaSix and Lindora.
The deal comes as Xponential continues to streamline its portfolio, recently completing the divestiture of Rumble Boxing and CycleBar to Extraordinary Brands, reducing Xponential’s brand count from eight to six, allowing the company to focus on concepts that “drive profitability,” according to CEO Mark King. In 2024, the company offloaded both Row House and Stride Fitness, a treadmill-based HIIT concept, and sunset AKT, its dance-based cardio brand.
“Xponential Fitness is setting the standard for boutique fitness on a global scale, and we are honored to play a role in supporting their continued success,” Morrow Hill president Chris Morrow said. “Our team’s experience, industry knowledge and speed to market make Morrow Hill the ideal partner for a brand family of this caliber. We are excited to help drive their next phase of growth.”
The Dallas-based Morrow Hill specializes in real estate services for multi-unit operators, including site selection, lease negotiation, portfolio management and territory mapping.
“As we continue to grow our brands nationwide and internationally, partnering with Morrow Hill provides our franchisees with access to the best real estate resources in the industry,” Xponential chief operating officer Tim Weiderhoft said. “This collaboration will allow us to expand with greater speed and precision, keeping our focus on building world-class fitness experiences for our members.”
Xponential is scheduled to release its second-quarter earnings on Aug. 7, following a period of turbulence and transition that included federal scrutiny and leadership shakeups. However, there have been bright spots as Xponential enters a new chapter. Shares jumped earlier this month after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission closed its 18-month probe without recommending enforcement action. The rebound helped claw back some of the losses from 2023, when a short-seller report accused the company of inflating performance metrics. Xponential has consistently denied the allegations. The status of other federal investigations remains unclear, though Xponential has said it is cooperating fully.
At the same time, a CEO search is underway following the planned departure of King, who took the helm in 2024 after founder Anthony Geisler’s exit. Geisler has recently unveiled Sequel Brands, a new boutique fitness franchising platform that debuted last month with four concepts: Pilates Addiction, iFlex Stretch Studios, Beem Light Sauna and Body20.