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Spa People

Dr Jonathan Leary

“The self-care industry is going to blow up. Just as there’s a gym on every corner, soon there’ll be some type of self-care facility on every corner”

Published in Spa Business 2024 issue 1

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You launched Remedy Place at the start of the pandemic, what impact did that have?
We never expected to close right after opening, so the first couple of months were obviously traumatic, but one positive byproduct of the pandemic was the mass awareness of health and the trajectory of self-care. It was like the whole world woke up. The self-care industry is going to blow up. Just like there’s a gym on every corner, soon enough there will be some type of self-care facility on every corner.

As a social wellness club, your mission is to redefine social occasions: so people choose to celebrate with a meditation and ice bath over a steak and a bottle of wine. How has that played out?
People are really connecting with the social side of our offering and we’re emphasising this part of our identity more in each club. Increasingly, members and guests are having meetings at Remedy Place and using it as an after-work hang-out in place of other social norms, like happy hour. This inspired us to launch Remedy After Hours, where people can rent the club at night and work with our events team to design a bespoke experience for their needs and budget.

Have you seen increased interest in social wellness?
One hundred per cent. When we first launched Remedy Place the premise was a hypothesis, based on my experience in medical practice. Yet since 2019, with no paid advertising, we’ve enjoyed widespread enthusiasm and adoption, creating a buzz in the cultural conversation and attention from industry giants and being recognised as a top trend by the Global Wellness Summit.

Who are your customers?
Pro-active people who prioritise their health and seek happiness. Although we host a range of guests from 18-year-olds up to octogenarians, our core is people in their 30s. It’s an almost even split (51 per cent female) showing men are now just as invested in the self-care category.

We’re inclusive, so we allow anyone to make a reservation and we cap the number of members per club, so we have fewer member visits than non-members. The split is around 35/65. Although we cater to an affluent demographic, we’re seeing many people who’ve shifted their spending to prioritise wellness with us.

What are your expansion plans?
We have two clubs in construction and plan to open two a year going forward. Our third club will be in New York City’s SoHo neighbourhood. We haven’t disclosed the location of our fourth club yet, but it will be outside New York and will be our biggest footprint with the most amenities to date, setting a whole new standard for the brand.

Tell us more about your experience in the events sector
We can ‘Remedy’ any event by serving workouts, meditation, breathwork and ice bath classes instead of cocktails. It’s a significant new revenue stream – last year we facilitated more than 13,000 ice baths off-site and this year we’re on track to double takings for this side of the business. We partner with a range of brands such as BMW, HBO, Coachella, Festival de Cannes and Soho House.

Why did you decide to go after the home market with the Tech-Remedy Collection?
Guests asked for it over and over again. There’s a growing market for creating the type of experiences we offer in the convenience of one’s own home and as we continue to lead and innovate this new self-care industry, we also want to supply it, continuing to educate and inspire.

The Tech-Remedy Collection represents a new arm of the business in product design and is a really cool vertical which may end up bigger than our brick-and-mortar presence. However, clubs will always be our foundation, because that’s where we create authentic connections and communities with our guests.

Why did you choose the Remedy Roller as your first product and how does it work?
Pain is a major issue in America, which resulted in an opioid crisis. Everyone has tight muscles and to restore motion you need to release the fascia and break up scar tissue. The Remedy Roller is a great way of restoring movement and blood flow to the muscles, fascia and joints – it can get into every crevice of the body, like the backs of the knees which frequently get overlooked in treatments.

It works by pushing the parts of the body against it, for example sitting on the bench and putting the feet on it and then moving up the legs. You can sit against it for your back and lean over it for abs and side muscles, or even straddle it to do the adductors.

At US$11,000 (€10,067, £8,598) it’s an expensive product, but it’s something which can be used every single day and will make a huge impact for anyone who is trying to move better, eliminate pain, or alleviate any tightness.

What are your distribution plans?
We have a long list of contacts I’ve built over the years. It’s the first time we’ve ever done a release outside of a club, but I’ve consulted with our entire database of customers from gyms and hotels to country clubs and recovery centres.

We’re currently working on six Tech-Remedy products, with the next launch planned for later this year.

• Spa Business first investigated the social wellness club model back in 2020: see www.spabusiness.com/socialwellnessclub

FACT FILE // Remedy place

Remedy Place is the brainchild of Dr Jonathan Leary, who has a doctorate in chiropractic medicine.

Seeing firsthand how patients struggled to live a healthy lifestyle and still be social, he set about merging the two in a new business model which he called a ‘social wellness club’.

There are currently two clubs: the first opened in West Hollywood in 2019, and Flatiron, New York followed in 2022 with more under development.

Each Remedy Place has four main components:

• The Lounge
A ‘gathering space’ for working or socialising where healthy food is served and non-alcoholic happy hours reign supreme

• Tech Remedies
Mostly touchless offerings such as cryotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen chambers and ice baths

• Holistic Practitioners
Ranging from functional medicine specialists to those focusing on gut health

• Group Classes
Includes breathwork, sound bath meditation and stretch/mobility

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