FP Movement, Free People’s activewear brand, is on a mission to make fitness more accessible, and its latest target market is New York City.
Friday, the company is opening an FP Movement Studio at its SoHo flagship at 583 Broadway, which opened Memorial Day weekend. To start, it will offer six mat-based classes, including Pilates and yoga, between Friday and Sunday. Instructors include Makena Rae Diehl, Steph Strine, Katherine Menna, Alexa Hirschberg, Victoria Gibbs and KK Sweat cofounder Kara Liotta (for special events). The FP Movement Studio’s classes this weekend are already sold out.
In 2020, just before the pandemic, FP Movement placed an emphasis on fitness, signing ambassadors like Isaac Boots and Sarah Otey. While COVID-19 interrupted some plans, the company hosted virtual programming and eventually branched into outdoor community events, including hikes, run days (hosted the first Saturday of every month) and classes with studio partners.
“[We have an] average of 90 events per quarter, approximately 2,500 attendees per quarter across 13 markets, and we have 12,000 unique members,” said Courtney Wartman Weis, managing director, brand marketing.
Most of these events begin and end at the store, which of course promotes brand exposure but has also led to a growing FP Movement community.
“We noticed the people after the classes were hanging out still in the store,” Wartman Weis said. “We wanted to have a place where people could gather, not only for the fitness aspect of it, but also for the wellness and happiness aspect of it.”
FP Movement Studio in New York City.
That led the brand to introduce the FP Movement Studio concept, adding on outposts at its existing FP Movement stores in Austin and Chicago. The New York City location is the first one to be built with a store and studio in mind from the beginning. There are dressing rooms, bathrooms and storage areas just for studio-goers.
The FP Movement Studio, which is located downstairs from the store, fits 30 people per class, though it can fit 40 for larger events. For now, classes, which include sculpt, barre, yoga and Pilates, will only be held in the morning.
“We are releasing our own equipment, so we’re going to incorporate equipment and weights into the classes as well,” said Wartman Weis.
FP Movement mats.
Courtesy of FP Movement
In an aim to foster community, FP Movement priced its classes lower than typical New York Pilates classes, which can cost around $40 or more. FP Movement classes cost $28 to drop in, $128 for a five-class pack, and $198 for a 10-class pack.
“Our KPI for the studio is community,” Wartman Weis said. “[We have] no memberships for that reason, because we want people to be able to enjoy something with their friends. It’s a pickup class in addition to maybe the routine during the week. That’s why we also are emphasizing weekends. We’re not trying to replace the traditional studio model.”
The brand has several other FP Movement stores in the pipeline, including Boston and Wilmington, N.C. — both offer opportunities for the company to host additional wellness activations, like its run days. According to the company, it is expected to close the year with 63 stand-alone FP Movement stores. It also maintains 54 shops-in-shop at Free People. As far as adding more FP Movement Studios, Wartman Weis said there is potential. Additionally, FP Movement’s business was up 18 percent year-over-year and searches for the brand were up 40 percent year-over-year in the second quarter.
