Boutique Fitness Craze on NPR's On Point

[Nuggie's Auntie]

The NPR show On Point did a story today on the trend of boutique fitness classes. Here is the link. Click 'ways to listen' to hear the story in full.

[debbied]

Thanks. Just listened while I did my paperwork

I felt like a snob....everything mentioned is 'old hat' at VF

[TinierTina]

According to this podcast, CrossFit seems to be a new kind of franchise .. it is kind of like a spiritual practice "chain" but almost not-a-chain in that the owner of the gym seems to have a great deal of autonomy in how they run a gym ...

[Nuggie's Auntie]

Originally Posted by TinierTina

According to this podcast, CrossFit seems to be a new kind of franchise .. it is kind of like a spiritual practice "chain" but almost not-a-chain in that the owner of the gym seems to have a great deal of autonomy in how they run a gym ...

Yes, the owner of Crossfit has very libertarian ideals. He is very hands-off and is content to let market forces sift out the good boxes from the bad. 60 Minutes did a story on him last year.

I actually thought it was interesting they included Crossfit. It's definitely not what I think of when I hear 'boutique studio!'

[lreidgreen]

Originally Posted by Nuggie's Auntie

Yes, the owner of Crossfit has very libertarian ideals. He is very hands-off and is content to let market forces sift out the good boxes from the bad. 60 Minutes did a story on him last year.

I actually thought it was interesting they included Crossfit. It's definitely not what I think of when I hear 'boutique studio!'

Personally my gut feeling is that they don't care if there are bad boxes. They just like getting their annual affiliate fee from each box. IIRC it is like $4000/year. They aggressively go after programs in the legal system that mimic Crossfit in their name. Like one of our local large expensive gyms(pool, two weight rooms, extensive array of classes including Les Mills etc. ) had a program or class titled "X Fit" and our local box owner found out about it and reported them.

I didn't read the article-will check it out later.

[Nuggie's Auntie]

Originally Posted by lreidgreen

Personally my gut feeling is that they don't care if there are bad boxes. They just like getting their annual affiliate fee from each box. IIRC it is like $4000/year.

That could be. I got the feeling from the 60 Minutes story that the founder just isn't interested in policing the different boxes or providing much support. The possibility of the Crossfit name being besmirched by bad boxes was not a particular concern. He seemed fine with letting the chips fall where they may.

As for fees, $4k is pretty cheap. Bar Method franchise fee is $40k! But they provide a lot of support and quality control, and are most certainly interested in protecting the overall brand image.

I just tend to think of 'boutique fitness' as being small, expensive, capitalizing on one type of workout. The individuality of Crossfit boxes and the variety of equipment/training modalities that go into the 'workout of the day' doesn't quite seem to fit the definition of 'boutique' to me.

I also thought the story way over-spiritualized the concept. But interesting nonetheless.