This article is part of “Where Are They Now?”—an ongoing series in which Franchise Times managing editor Emilee Wentland and reporter Alyssa Huglen catch up with emerging brands.
A sixfold increase in units in less than four years. That’s the expansion story for Bodybar Pilates, a studio fitness concept its leaders said is poised for another breakout year.
Franchise Times last reported on the Texas-based brand in 2021, when Bodybar had eight locations open. The company has since grown to 48 units in 17 states and plans to double its unit count this year with a goal of opening 50 additional units.
Matt and Kamille McCollum, the husband-and-wife duo who went from franchisees to brand leaders, continue to tag team executive duties, with Matt as CEO and Kamille holding dual roles as president and chief brand officer.
Kamille said additions to the leadership team have driven growth over the last few years and made goals attainable for 2025. What in 2021 was a four-person operation, including the McCollums, has grown to a team of approximately 18.
In the last year, Bodybar Pilates brought on Brittany Granby as vice president of marketing and Michael Piermarini as chief operating officer. Piermarini came over from a large Orangetheory Fitness franchisee, Maverick Fitness Holdings, where he was COO. Prior to that he was with Orangetheory corporate, where he was director of fitness.
Bodybar also created a new department this year focused on training and development.
“We really have built a good support team that not only really cares about our franchisees being successful but cares about the product,” Kamille said. “We have a culture that we really treat each other as a team. There’s no one unwilling to do something to help someone else out. I think that’s just a good culture that people want to be a part of.”
She believes the refreshed team will help Bodybar continue to scale up and reach its ambitious goals in a realistic manner.
“With the support of our HQ team, as far as on the instructor side, the operation side, real estate, everything has just been something that our owners have just thrived in,” she added.
Doubling unit count is also made possible by desired growth from current owners. Matt said at least a quarter of Bodybar’s new locations this year will come from internal expansion of portfolios, with single-unit franchisees developing into multi-unit ones.
“So many of our locations that will be open next year are going to be owners that might have only bought one territory, and now it’s being so successful that they want to buy a second or a third,” Kamille added. “Having that growth within our system has really not only proven the model, but it’s also great to see because we have owners that have already done it once successfully, and now they’re ready to do it again.”
Bodybar has seen increased interest in the brand as reformer Pilates continues its rise in popularity. This subset of Pilates builds strong, lean muscle and activates core muscles through utilizing reformer machines, allowing for better supported workouts.
Reformer Pilates has become more accessible and affordable in recent years, and promotion from professional athletes has helped drive interest.
Bodybar further promotes accessibility by offering multiple class formats depending on where individuals are at on their Pilates journey and building a strong sense of community at their locations.
“I think reformer Pilates is a modality in high, high, high demand,” Matt said. “Whereas you see other boutique fitness that have started to fall off because the consumers’ patterns are changing, our belief is that if you build the community, people will stay with it because that’s their third place. They have home, they have work and they have their Bodybar, and I think that we’ve really seen that resonate in the communities.”
Club Pilates is the largest franchise in the segment, with more than 1,100 studios. Other boutique fitness competitors in the space include the smaller Jetset Pilates out of Florida, and Studio Pilates, an international franchise based in Australia that’s now expanding in the United States, where it has about a dozen units.
Membership has seen promising growth as a result. Bodybar has an average of 300 to 350 members per location, with the company seeing a rise in membership. The average unit volume surpassed $700,000 for locations open at least a year, according to Granby.
“I’m just constantly trying to be innovative on how we can continue to grow our revenue per location so that all of our owners are getting a wonderful return on their investment and see how we can expand,” Kamille said.
“You want to work with people that enjoy working together and where the company is taking care of them and providing them opportunity to grow,” Matt added. “That’s really an important aspect for us. We think we have an amazing culture, and we want to really showcase that.”