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Raleigh’s boutique fitness boom flexes its community muscle.
At some point, Raleigh entered its grip sock era—and it’s yet to show signs of slowing down.
A plethora of Pilates studios, strength concepts, yoga rooms and recovery-minded wellness spaces have been popping up across the city at the absurd frequency (and scale) of McDonald’s in its heyday. The result is a fitness scene that feels less like a collection of gyms and more like a lifestyle category of its own—one with founding memberships, dedicated waitlists, branded merch and very strong opinions.
The numbers back up the sweat. Downtown boasts around 23 fitness-related businesses, 15 of which have opened postpandemic, per Downtown Raleigh Alliance—while, nationally, service-oriented tenants like fitness studios, salons and spas leased more retail space than traditional retailers for the first time last year. Case in point: Across Kane Realty’s North Hills and DTR properties alone, five fitness concepts have opened or are under construction in the past two years.
But Raleigh’s boutique fitness boom isn’t just a retail stat. It’s a community in workout clothes. “People have very much vocalized they need more than just a workout,” says Jaye Johnston, owner of the forthcoming BODYBAR Pilates North Raleigh. “They want it to be their home.”
For Johnston, opening in North Raleigh was personal. It’s where she and her family are rooted, and where she saw room for a reformer-based studio centered on movement, inclusivity and connection. Though not opening until later this summer, Johnston says BODYBAR’s founding members already span all ages, genders and fitness levels—a sign, she says, people are looking for something approachable and lasting.
That tracks with what Kane is seeing across its properties. “Fitness and wellness concepts naturally complement mixed-use environments because they support the way people want to live today—more connected, convenient and experience-driven,” says Kane Senior Marketing Manager Hannah Smith. To wit, she says North Hills’ Wellness Wednesdays series “has grown tremendously over the past two years and now sells out almost every week”—reflecting demand for wellness that feels social and accessible.
With JETSET Pilates locations in DTR, North Hills, Holly Springs and RTP (with a Durham location also on deck), owners Katie Meyers and Renee Aquilino see a similar pattern across the Triangle. Clients come for the reformer, they say, but “the workout is almost never the whole story.” Fitness fiends stay for the rhythm of it: the familiar instructor, the 6am regular, the class that fits into a packed life without feeling punishing.
That may be the real reason boutique fitness is finding such solid footing here. Raleigh is growing fast, and in a city full of new faces, new routines and new neighborhoods, people are looking for smaller places to feel known. These studios offer movement, but also ritual, recognition and a reason to show up.
As it turns out, the city’s newest third place might come with a reformer.
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