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Barry’s Bootcamp Is Spreading Its Treads Across the Globe With a Major Expansion

Rachel Lapidos

July 11, 2017

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Photo: Larkin Clark

For a long time, Barry's Bootcamp was alone in the boutique fitness scene. Back in 1998 when the treadmill and strength-training interval workout launched, high-brow studios dedicated to specific classes (think: SoulCycle, Pure Barre) were pretty nonexistent. It was a gym world, and Barry's was living (and thriving!) in it.

Now, the ever-expanding studio is taking on that pioneering feeling again by opening more locations across the globe. Milan and Stockholm, for example, don't have a booming fitness scene—and Barry's is up to the challenge of forging the path (with studios opening this month and next, respectively).

"This takes me back to when I was a Barry's client back in 2002, when I had to explain to people what it meant," says Joey Gonzalez, CEO of the brand who spoke with Well+Good exclusively about the expansion. "It's like we're doing that all over again— but we've never been afraid to go into a new market and show people the value. It's definitely a challenge to enter places that don't have this concept of business just yet, but you have to expect that the ramp will look different there."

The studio's also putting down roots in Toronto, Atlanta, Dallas, and Washington D.C., bringing its location count to 39 domestically and abroad (Barry's is already in Norway, London, and Dubai). That's a growth rate of over 30 percent this year.

"We've never had an announcement like this before where we have five new studios opening before the end of the year—it's a pretty massive brand moment for us."

Expanding to new cities has been Barry's mission since receiving a major investment from North Castle Partners in July 2015. (“The goal is to scale out while maintaining the Barry’s community feel," Gonzalez said at the time.) "This is our first wave of new studios," says the CEO. "We've never had an announcement like this before where we have five new studios opening before the end of the year—it's a pretty massive brand moment for us."

And, just like how the workout's not over after that sprint on a 10 percent incline, Barry's Bootcamp's expansion plans don't end there—but the studio isn't revealing its next studio spots just yet. "There's this pent-up demand that exists in so many places around the world," says Gonzalez. "I get letters from Kenya asking for a studio! If you could see my inbox and inbound requests from corners of the globe.... It's always mind-boggling, in a good way."

So now that there will be Barry's Bootcamp-goers around the world, how do you say "my legs are burning" in Italian?

Of course, Barry's made the list of the seven hardest workout classes in New York City—and is one of the six fitness studios that's tough enough for NYC's top trainers.