Manhattan’s largest retail tenant might surprise you.
It’s not the iconic department store, Macy’s, whose 1.25 million square feet of city retail space holds the second spot. And it’s not a grocery or convenience store chain. It’s actually the luxury gym Equinox – which occupies more than 1.3 million square feet of retail.
In recent years, the intersection of health, wellness and retail has transformed from a niche market into a booming industry. According to McKinsey, the U.S. “wellness” market is growing at a rate of about 10% each year and is now worth $480 billion.
Fitness facilities like Equinox, Barry’s and SoulCycle are redefining retail by selling a lifestyle, rather than just gym memberships. Consumers eagerly purchase products like branded apparel, accessories and more, and brands of all types and sizes clamor to be a part of the growing $1.8 trillion global wellness market.
Experiential Wellness
Immersive experiences are becoming increasingly important to staying relevant in retail, which is why many stores partner with health, wellness and fitness companies to bring unique offerings to their customers in brick-and-mortar stores.
Champs Sports has started local running clubs. Lululemon stores offer free yoga sessions and meditation classes, in addition to the brand’s acquisition of the Mirror fitness platform and content deal with Peloton. And Alo Yoga hosts run clubs at various stores across the country.
On the other side of the spectrum, gyms like Equinox, Lifetime and Barry’s Bootcamp have created environments where the workout is only part of the experience. They are fast becoming vibrant social hubs, offering cafés, coworking spaces and pop-up boutiques. These brands turn wellness into a destination – and offer curated products along the way.
In 2024, the wellness club Hume opened in Venice Beach, California. According to Vogue, the club “combines classic gym elements, contemporary wellness methods, diverse physical therapies, local hospitality, and a unified community of like-minded members, all under one beautiful roof… just steps from the Pacific Ocean.” It features hand-plastered walls, fresh pressed juices and Brazilian lymphatic massages. But what it really sells is the chance to be part of a community (albeit, an exclusive one).
Personalized Wellness and Data-Driven Retail
Technology has also propelled the growth of wellness retail. Over the next ten years, the wearable fitness tech market – already worth about $63 billion globally – is expected to grow at a rate of 15.7% per year.
Wearable fitness tech refers to devices worn on the body, including smartwatches and fitness trackers like Garmins, Apple Watches, Fitbits, AliveCor KardiaMobiles, Zio by iRhythm and more. This highly competitive, emerging market includes products designed to monitor metrics ranging from heart rates and workouts to blood pressure, glucose and more, depending on the product. Roughly half of all consumers surveyed by McKinsey for its wellness study said they had purchased a fitness wearable at some point in time.
As retailers merge fashion, health and tech, brands are also more able to deepen customer engagement through data-driven insights, which, as we note in our 2023 report, is key to retail strategy. Best Buy, for example, has rapidly expanded its wearable health tech, now selling devices like continuous glucose monitors, smartwatches, smart rings and sleep trackers.
Wellness is Retail’s Hottest New Category. Will It Last?
Wellness, once a sector dominated by traditional fitness centers and vitamin shops, has now expanded into a multi-faceted economy where consumers seek more than just products – they want offerings focused on holistic well-being and human dignity. This trend comes alongside a growing interest in longevity; Peter Attia’s book Outlive, for example, has spent nearly 100 weeks on The New York Times Bestsellers list.
This trend is reshaping how many retailers operate, compelling them to find opportunities for wellness in their offerings to reach consumers in the health-conscious market. The future of wellness retail will be increasingly dominated by hybrid spaces where fitness, beauty, recovery, nutrition and mindfulness merge, offering a curated, often data-driven wellness experience under one retail roof.