Pause Studio Targets Nationwide Expansion

For recovery studios, there’s no time to rest.

What’s happening: Pause Studio will open its fifth corporate-owned wellness destination (Studio City, CA) on Nov. 27. And, expanding outside of LA for the first time, the company’s first franchise location is set to open in Newport Beach, CA this spring.

Part of a national expansion strategy, Pause has awarded 57 franchises to date, with plans to open 14 studios in 2024 and 200 over the next four years.

New Rituals

Initially focused on float therapy, Pause now, caters to the 44% of consumers prioritizing holistic wellness therapies.

Racing to scale up its recovery services, Pause joins a growing list of companies offering infrared sauna, cold plunges, cryotherapy, and more.

• After a $140M growth investment in 2021, Restore Hyper Wellness opened its 200th studio this year.
• Touting a sauna and red light therapy combo, Perspire notched its 44th opening and awarded 57 franchises in 2023.
• SweatHouz plans to open 100 sauna/cold plunge studios by the end of 2024.
• Reinventing the bathhouse, Othership is targeting 20 North American locations in the next five years, while Sauna House just launched its franchise network.

All-in-one. 60% of boutique fitness owners currently or plan to offer recovery services in the next year.

Seeing an opportunity, wellness social club Remedy Place launched its at-home Tech-Remedy line. And recovery tech brand Therabody is expanding its sauna-equipped Reset clinics nationwide, including airport installations.

Of note, its rival Hyperice inked studio integrations with both Pause and SweatHouz this year.

Punchline: Although promising, the evidence behind cold plunge and sauna remains thin. But, like contrast therapy’s many enthusiasts, recovery studios are fine to pursue it on feeling alone.