SoulCycle is slimming down.
The once-hot exercise chain — some folks have been known to take multiple classes a day — is closing 20 of its 82 studio locations nationwide within the next few weeks, the company announced Friday in a town hall-style Zoom meeting with its employees.
The privately-run company, owned by Equinox Group, will shutter four New York City locations – in Midtown, Soho, West 92nd St. and Park Slope, Brooklyn — along with a Hamptons outpost in Water Mill, sources said.
Currently, there are 16 locations in Manhattan, three in Brooklyn, and four others on the East End — Bridgehampton, East Hampton, Montauk and Water Mill.
About 75 workers are slated for the chopping blocks out of a workforce of 1,350, the company said.
However, high profile instructors, like Stacey Griffith, will remain, a source said, adding that part-time workers may also lose jobs or be moved to other locations.
The closings are being blamed on the changing exercise habits following COVID lockdowns.
“As riders continue to return to in-studio classes, there have been many shifts as a result of the pandemic,” a SoulCycle spokesperson told the Post in a statement. “Some of these shifts have been based on geography and therefore we are naturally reevaluating our portfolio of studios to assess whether there is an opportunity to right-size in certain markets. This will allow us to continue to provide riders with the SoulCycle experience they know and love.”
SoulCycle is not the only spin shop to spiral. Peloton, which peaked during the pandemic, saw its value tank post-lockdown and on Friday announced that it will slash 800 jobs and hike the price of its stationary bikes.
SoulCycle shuttered all its locations in the early days of the pandemic and launched its own at-home bike to keep up with Peloton.
The principals of the Related Companies — including founder Steve Ross and CEO Jeff Blau — are investors in Equinox, along with Equinox exec chairman and managing partner Harvey Spevak.
SoulCycle had to do some soul-searching following allegations of racism, fat-shaming and instructors having sex with clients, a 2020 report revealed.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
