US-based Xponential Fitness has defied the economic crisis caused by coronavirus to open up six of its boutique studios in Saudi Arabia.
The newly opened studios in Riyadh represent the brands – Club Pilates, Pure Barre, CycleBar, YogaSix and AKT – and are part of a franchise agreement signed last summer with the Ezdihar Sports arm of Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Company to bring more than 50 Xponential Fitness studios to the kingdom over the next few years.
John Kersh, chief International development officer for Xponential Fitness, told Arabian Business: “The timing for Saudi Arabia was not ideal with the pandemic, obviously for many reasons. Nobody expected a challenge of this kind but our partners there are working through it and we’re working through it with them.
“They share a long-term vision like we do. This is one of many future openings expected and time will improve the conditions of the pandemic. We’re confident together about the future.”
The studios are housed inside the brand new Evox Clubs, which have separate facilities for both men and women – the female side features all five of the company’s concepts, while the male section features the CycleBar brand.
“Fitness itself is a relatively newer concept in Saudi Arabia, particularly for women, who have only had access to fitness services like gyms for a short period of time,” said Kersh.
“We think it’s a great way to introduce what we deliver to the Saudi consumer. The plan is to build a couple of those kinds of centres, the Evox clubs, and then eventually branch out to launch independent boutique fitness studios, more like the concept that we offer here in the United States, where you have one club pilates studio in a particular shopping centre, or multiple studios but in more of an independent environment because some people may wish to go only to the pilates studio every day or only to the yoga studio,” he added.
Further plans include the opening of another Evox gym in Jeddah in the first or second quarter of next year, with a total of at least ten Xponential boutique studios in Saudi by the end of 2021.
“It is the intention with our partner to develop numerous of these large real estate development projects featuring the Evox clubs along with the Xponential studios. I would say it will be a very significant investment over the years,” said Kersh.
As of August 31, Xponential Fitness has over 1,600 studios across its eight brands across the world.
Kersh revealed he is keen to add to that with further expansion across the Middle East region although he stressed this would involve working with the right people on the right projects.
He said: “The absolute plan is to develop other markets in the Middle East. There’s no question. The main objective there is to find a partner or partners who are capable of developing our concept and who really have a passion for the Xponential Fitness brands. That’s the most important thing, if they don’t have a passion for our brands then they’re not the right partners for us.”
Five things we’ve learned:
- The opening of five studios in Riyadh is part of a plan to bring more than 50 Xponential Fitness studios to the kingdom over the next few years
- The newly opened studios in Riyadh represent the brands – Club Pilates, Pure Barre, CycleBar, YogaSix and AKT
- The Riyadh venture has all five concepts available for females and the CycleBar brand for males
- A second Evox Club is planned to open in Jeddah in Q1 or Q2 next year
- Xponential Fitness has over 1,600 studios across its eight brands across the world
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