Boutique Fitness Trend Grows in Hamptons Market

Aside from a few burning candles, the room is pitch black and the music is loud, almost deafening, as riders at SoulCycle in Water Mill move in sync on their stationary bikes to the beat of the music—right, left, right. It is 7:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning in the Hamptons, and the riders are pedaling in perfect unison.SoulCycle is just one of an abundance of boutique fitness studios that have taken the regional market by storm. Whether it is because of a greater focus on health in recent years or whether it reflects a desire to follow fitness fads, many studios are full on weekend mornings, which for many used to be about sleeping in and eating bagels with lox.

“It’s a new way of socializing, and it’s a lot more cost-effective versus having three or four drinks,” said Gabby Etrog Cohen, vice president of Public Relations and Branding at SoulCycle, referring to time usually spent socializing in a bar.

For businesses on the South Fork especially, Ms. Cohen explained, it is much easier to find smaller spaces for boutique fitness studios than big spaces to house full gyms.

Brownings Fitness in Southampton, which is a private training facility based in Manhattan, had to follow its clients to the East End because business in the city would decline during the summer months. MaryAnn Browning, the owner, said she bought the Southampton building to “make it into more of a financially successful business.” More than half of her clients summer in the Hamptons.

“Clients can plan ahead and say, ‘In the summer, I will have everything—my trainers—and my life isn’t going to fall apart,’” Ms. Browning explained.

On the other hand, SoulCycle’s Hamptons studios were not secondary, but actually led to the opening of many Manhattan SoulCycle studios, according to Senior Public Relations Manager Vicky Land. The company now has four studios in the Hamptons—Montauk, East Hampton, Bridgehampton, and Water Mill. The Bridgehampton studio, also known as “The Barn” because it is housed in a former barn on Butter Lane, was only SoulCycle’s second studio; the first opened on West 77 Street in Manhattan.

“It was recognizing very early on that there was a primary market there, and people looked for things outside of their regular routine,” Ms. Land said.

Many of the riders in the SoulCycle Hamptons studios are from Manhattan, and most of the instructors also teach there, but Ms. Land explained that The Barn is actually what inspired the rest of the studios in Manhattan to open. Instead of advertising to a new market after the first studio opened its doors on the Upper West Side, she said, the founders decided to cater to existing riders who spent their summers in the Hamptons.

“So many people discovered SoulCycle in the Hamptons, and it gained a lot of riders from that, because it wasn’t on the Upper East Side,” Ms. Land said. Now, there are two studios on the Upper East Side, and the company owes it partly to the local market. “The Hamptons provides a congruence of different neighbors who come together in a concentrated area,” Ms. Cohen said.

SoulCycle in the Hamptons especially provides a social scene that allows riders to catch up on their weeks with one another. It is a big part of the company’s success because, in Manhattan, people from different parts of the city often do not ride at the same studio. “People see each other every week who might not see each other in the city,” Ms. Land said.

“It’s not like you are just going to exercise,” Ms. Cohen said, “You’re doing something that’s fun and brings you together with other people.”

Since most of the different boutique fitness studios are more than just a workout, they encourage and even make customers commit, which contributes to their success.

Ms. Browning said her clients want the structure and continuity of their regular city routines. “They want to go somewhere where they have the same flow as they have in the city,” she said, adding, “It is crucial that I am out there, because I maintain my clients’ fitness and keep them motivated throughout the summer.”

SoulCycle sign-ups are every Monday at noon for the entire week and following weekend—and if a rider forgets to sign up at noon sharp, there is a good chance many of the classes will be full. Just a few minutes after sign-ups this week, 30 different classes across the four Hamptons studios already had wait lists, including many of the 7:30 a.m. classes on the weekends.

An avid rider and new SoulCycle instructor from Westhampton Beach, Bari Robinson, said, “Working out is absolutely the new ‘going out,’” explaining the appeal of even the early classes.

When riders do sign up for a class, they are agreeing to spend $40 for an entire fitness experience.

“Friends and families ride together, and businesses entertain their clients at the studio instead of taking them to dinner or drinks,” Ms. Land said, adding, “It’s a lifestyle brand and has brought joy to movement.”

Branding aside, people are investing more in their health. According to Ibis World, the U.S. health and fitness industry generated more than $25 billion last year. “People are spending more money to feel good. Nothing else is worth it,” Ms. Cohen agreed.

Boutique fitness studios on the South Fork are able to profit even though many of them are within the same street of one another—some even share a building. In Southampton, Pure Barre, SOMA Fitness, Flywheel Cycling and Brownings Fitness are just a few hundred feet from one another. Despite their proximity, their success in the summer allows them all to last through a quiet winter until the start of the next season.

“I don’t look at anyone as competition—I like to think of us all as a synergy,” Ms. Browning said, “I see that we can all work together to benefit the client.”