ClassPass, the New York-based health club subscription service, raised a new round of $85 million to expand domestically and in Asia. Here, in a nutshell, is what this trend means:
Real estate is completely fungible. Location, location, and location still matter, but the physical property must be tuned to what product or services are in demand locally while a third party like ClassPass drives the foot traffic that generates revenue. Health clubs are a natural starting point, but just as a beauty salon rents chairs to stylists, local property owners should be thinking about how to build multi-use venues where speicalized services or products delivered in person, with great customer support.
Local selling and service remain the uncharted waters of the economy, and now everything is susceptible to the subscription model. ClassPass isn’t the only pioneer in this trend, but it gets today’s “Attaboy” for proving investors are following the subscription trend.
Source: ClassPass Raises $85 Million in Venture Capital Toward Expansion | Club Industry