These four brands are at your service
BY LAURA MICHAELSPublished: 03.27.2018
Working out in an infrared sauna setting open 24 hours? Why not, at HOTWORX, an emerging franchise in the fast-growing personal and consumer services segment. See more on this and three other brands on the following pages.
HOTWORX
The concept: Wanting to “give customers more workout in less time,” Stephen Smith developed HOTWORX, a concept that offers a variety of 30-minute pilates, hot yoga, isometric and high intensity interval training classes in an infrared sauna setting open 24 hours a day. Virtual instructors lead each class and “staff is minimal so that’s great for profitability,” says Smith. “I thought perhaps people would discount the value because it’s virtual, but they don’t. It appeals to them because they know classes start on time, it’s a small setting and they maximize their workout time.”The stats: Since the first HOTWORX opened in Oxford, Mississippi, in February 2017 the brand has added nine locations in Texas and Tennessee and Mississippi, with 30-plus units in development. Several dozen workout saunas are also located within Planet Beach spas across the country. HOTWORX is a sister brand of Planet Beach, also co-founded by Smith. The initial total investment range is $148,500-$333,690.The competition: Numerous gym and fitness brands are out there but Smith doesn’t view concepts such as Orangetheory and Anytime Fitness as head-to-head competitors. With its $60 monthly membership, “we fit very neatly in between” those brands, he says, and more consumers are maintaining multiple memberships. Smith is actually an Anytime member as well “because I like the heavy weights.”The challenge: Education. Getting the various jurisdictions and municipalities where HOTWORX wants to open to “understand the sauna concept, what it is and how it fits into their spaces” is a challenge as the brand grows, says Smith.
