HUME
Social clubs are riding the wellness wave to new heights.
What’s happening: HUME, a members-only wellness club with a focus on self-care, announced its development in Venice Beach, California.
Slated for opening in early 2024, the concept will play host to fitness classes, nutritional services, and extensive recovery protocols, all while channeling the “slower pace and communal rituals” of traditional bathhouses.
Community Calling
Craving community post-pandemic, consumers are prioritizing social experiences — yet, achieving a balanced lifestyle is proving to be a challenge.
According to HUME co-founders Roger Briggs and Sandy Bole, the modern Westernized pace of life just isn’t conducive to holistic health.
“Pieces of what we desired were scattered throughout the world and enjoyed on special occasions but never readily available for our everyday routines. Through HUME, we have set out to build an intentional space devoid of distractions to unite these rituals.”
Good vibe tribe. A powerful hallmark of boutique fitness classes, the convergence of community and well-being is evolving to include social rituals like saunaing, ice baths, IV drips, and even mingling with mocktails.
While often prohibitive from a price perspective, operators are iterating on the traditional third spaces, gathering like-minded members in search of overall well-being:
- Sweat and Tonic, a wellness club combining Technogym-equipped boutique classes, biohacking, and socializing, will anchor Toronto’s forthcoming mixed-use wellness development The Well this fall.
- Bridging digital and physical communities, meditation app Open’s new LA studio is a “deliberately complementary” offering, translating its digital classes into a physical timetable of signature movement, strength, and breathwork programming.
- Packaging luxe amenities with the traditional gym experience, Remedy Place and RSG Group’s HEIMAT and JOHN REED are in expansion mode.
Elsewhere, putting a modern twist on centuries-old bathhouse culture, Othership, BATHHOUSE, and a slew of newcomers are fostering mental and social well-being with ice baths and soaks.
Punchline: Exercisers want to feel better mentally, physically, and socially. With countless studies citing community as an amplifier for all three aspects, member clubs solving the when and where may find their waitlists full and growing, regardless of price.
