Fitness and wellness are bolstering brick-and-mortar retail, driving traffic and reshaping buying patterns.
Foot race. Per Placer.ai data, traffic to apparel stores tanked 25% between 2019–2025, while visits to medspas and wellness boutiques grew ~32% and gyms ~23% — with beauty inspiring more strip mall trips and fitness anchoring neighborhood developments.
Playing anchor. Betting on service-based businesses, developers are welcoming wellness tenants. Routine-driven, gyms deliver the highest monthly visit frequency (4.2x) and longest sessions, creating a potential halo effect for nearby retailers.
Attention shoppers. As errand runs become more experiential, goods-focused brands are redesigning formats — with sports retailers hosting HYROX hubs, beauty stores adding wellness counters, and grocers becoming tastemakers.
Punchline: From bodegas to mega-stores and malls, wellness is becoming a prime purchase-driver, with every other errand an add-on.
We break down how fitness, wellness, and healthcare are converging — and what it means for business, culture, and capital.
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