Barry’s and FORME Announce Exclusive Partnership

Barry’s and FORME announced an exclusive content and retail partnership.

Who’s who. With 78 locations in 14 countries, Barry’s is a prominent fitness studio. Known for its signature Red Room workouts, the brand has cultivated a passionate and loyal community.

A relative newcomer to connected fitness, FORME launched pre-sales of its workout mirror in May of 2020, and recently began installing units.

The details. Barry’s recently teased “X”, its forthcoming digital content offering. Alongside a virtual subscription, and part of this new partnership, Barry’s X content will be available exclusively on FORME devices.

Boosting its retail presence, FORME will be displayed and sold at Barry’s studios.

Zooming out: Digital content is table stakes. As fitness, technology, and retail converge, brands have to get creative in hopes of forging deeper customer relationships.

Linking retail and fitness, lululemon’s $500M acquisition of MIRROR is a prime example. A different approach, in addition to the SoulCycle at-home bike, Equinox+ curates content from brands outside the Equinox umbrella, like TB12 and [solidcore].

Elsewhere, the Beachbody x MYXfitness SPAC saw a content company enter hardware. And Xponential Fitness CEO Anthony Geisler told us his brands could also enter connected equipment.

Punchline: In the battle for distribution and differentiated content, expect to see more partnerships and acquisitions down this path.