Inside Wellness Club and Third Space’s booming business

A few years ago, Grace Guo began yearning for a place to hang out with friends in New York City that didn’t require alcohol.

Guo, who had recently gotten sober, said he was surrounded by friends who also chose not to drink and wanted an alternative to the typical social scene. After doing some research, she landed on Bathhouse and Othership. Bathhouse and Othership is a social wellness club dedicated to creating a community centered around health promotion.

“To be honest, it feels like going to the spa together and spending the afternoon together. For me, I think it feels much better than staying out late at night,” Guo told CNBC.

She is one of a growing number of people who are seeking out members-only clubs and other spaces that are structured around staying healthy but also serve as a place to foster connection.

And those spaces are also becoming fast-growing businesses. Bath House, which opened in Brooklyn, New York, in 2019, told CNBC exclusively that it expects to reach revenue of about $120 million by the end of this year. Like Othership, the company declined to disclose other financial details.

Many of these companies are privately held, but publicly traded gym chain Lifetime began focusing on premium wellness several years ago. While investors initially didn’t like this reallocation of resources, it’s now paying off, with Lifetime’s stock price more than doubling since October 2023.

Companies old and new are trying to reach consumers like Mr. Guo. The 31-year-old said she is increasingly focused on her own social life and the health, wellness and peace of those around her, and is looking for so-called third spaces that focus on that.

“Where do I go to get involved in the community, or where do I go to express certain interests that I have or find like-minded people?” Guo said. “It’s about finding a group of like-minded people, but also having the space and novelty to try things out and pursue things.”

At Othership, Guo said the health-focused social environment appealed to her, from spending time in the sauna and cold to choosing the popular evening hours.

“Having a space where you can get out of your daily routine and your complacency and go somewhere that kind of shocks you is really important, and I think probably the biggest thing is the fact that it overcomes a lot of the inertia in doing something,” Guo said.

The concept of third space is not new. The term, first coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in his 1989 book The Great Good Place, refers to the spaces outside the home (the first place) and the workplace (the second place) where people gather and form relationships.

This definition now includes places with relatively low barriers to access, such as neighborhood coffee shops, libraries, and bars, where people from diverse backgrounds gather in casual settings.

But somewhere in the last few years, that definition has evolved and the importance of third space has blossomed.

Richard Kite, a professor at Viterbo College in Wisconsin and author of “Finding Your Third Place,” said he has been teaching courses on third places for nearly 20 years, but only in the last few years has he noticed that the term has become mainstream.

Kite said that tipping point coincided with the pandemic, which sent the world into lockdown and effectively eliminated social gatherings for a time, while redefining them in the long term.

“That’s when all of a sudden we started talking about the cost of loneliness, the cost of social isolation, and during the pandemic, we realized that this is not healthy,” Kite told CNBC. “And at the same time we realized we needed more of these places, we also saw so many places closing. That spurred renewed interest.”

This trend is further exacerbated by an increasingly digital society, as younger generations crave more than just social media connections, despite the rise of artificial intelligence and chatbots, he added.

“We are making huge investments in technology that makes it easier and more desirable to be independent,” Kite said, citing AI companies promoting products posing as friends. “When more people turn to screens instead of seeking fulfillment through social interaction, it just takes them all out of the pool.”

According to Cigna’s 2025 Loneliness in America report, 67% of Gen Z report feeling lonely, as do 65% of Millennials. A 2024 Harvard study found that 67% of adults feel socially and emotionally lonely because they don’t belong to meaningful groups.

Harry Taylor first founded Othership with his wife and friends to create a space that embraces wellness trends while combating loneliness.

“We know there’s a huge market for people to meet other people. Loneliness is an epidemic right now,” Taylor told CNBC. “We realized that by doing this, there is a power for people to come together and be who they are and be vulnerable.”

Third spaces have evolved to encompass specific purposes, often justifying the price tag that comes with them, as some membership clubs can cost thousands of dollars per month.

Wellness in particular has been booming lately, becoming one of the top gift item categories last holiday season. Equinox Chairman Harvey Spevak told CNBC last month that “health is the new luxury,” with the global wellness market expected to reach nearly $10 trillion by 2030, according to estimates by the Global Wellness Institute.

Bathhouse, which operates a nearly 90,000 square foot facility in New York City, offers a wellness experience rooted in the heritage of European bathhouses. The space has a sauna and cold plunge, and offers both guided and unguided sessions, with drop-in sessions starting at $40. The company’s two New York locations serve about 1,000 customers each day.

Co-founder Travis Talmadge told CNBC: “It was clear that there was no concept like a public bathhouse that was truly geared toward the modern consumer, especially in America.”

Talmadge and his co-founders said they are focused on harnessing each person’s body and creating human experiences while building a community around shared activities.

“Our space is so large that one of the nice things about being on set with so many people moving around is that everyone feels like a background actor,” Talmadge said. “You can have some really personal time alone or with others, but then you’re in an environment where a lot of people are doing the same thing.”

Talmadge said the company has “excess demand” and is operating on “very healthy profit margins” with plans to open seven more stores by 2027.

Just one of many wellness spaces that are becoming increasingly popular.

Othership also leverages the idea of ​​wellness, incorporating practices from different cultures to address the “physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.” We also have locations in New York and Canada and plan for further growth.

Othership allows members to choose from three options. One is a free-flow session, which is designed to allow members to use the space as they wish. Classes alternate between saunas and cold plunges, as well as group-led activities. And in social circles, they imitate clubbing without the alcohol in order to stay in the moment.

Co-founder Taylor said that through Othership, he has seen customers create new groups of friends, propose to partners in the sauna, and promote their own health while finding connections with others.

Creating an alcohol-free space was one of the goals of Othership founders when creating their vision. Othership is currently hosting comedians, live musicians, and more in its saunas to mimic similar alcohol-related spaces often found in larger cities.

“So much social media has given us a false sense of social engagement and interaction, but so many of us are even experiencing almost the opposite when we’re doomscrolling,” Taylor said. “After the social satisfaction that we all need as humans, there’s a feeling of emptiness. That’s why coming together and being so real with each other creates a really deep sense of belonging.”

Wellness communities can be formed in other ways as well. Founded 13 years ago, Glo30 is a nationally based membership studio that provides personalized skin care treatments for members every 30 days and creates a coordinated schedule with other members to foster community.

Arlene Lamba, founder and CEO of Glo30, told CNBC: “Building a community is about sharing experiences and being able to share how you feel, not just getting results or feeling good.”

Wellness clubs are booming in urban areas like New York and Los Angeles, but Lamba says there are more than 100 locations in between, including Texas, Arizona and North Carolina.

Lamba said all Glo30 appointments are scheduled on the hour at each location to increase opportunities for social connection.

“At the same time people are coming into the studio, people are coming out of the studio, and we’re finding that they’re recognizing each other and actually making new friends,” she said, adding that the company is seeing more and more social groups forming in treatment rooms, especially after the pandemic.

Lamba said he has seen the rise of social media increase the desire for social connection, but that community-building often takes place in non-traditional locations like Glo30. At the same time, she said, the social interaction is not as “overwhelming” as in other places, such as parties or large group events, allowing for intimate socializing.

Lamba said the number of Glo30 franchise units under development has increased by 67.5% in the past two years due to growing demand for the company’s services.

The third space boom isn’t just limited to wellness. Fine dining memberships, gyms, creative spaces, social clubs, and more are growing in popularity as consumers look for ways to build community outside of their homes and offices.

At Glo30, Lamba said he has seen all types of customers at its stores, from families to girl groups to couples.

“The third space is interesting because it creates a real connection,” she said. “We become witnesses to someone’s life, the highs, the lows, the middles of that person, and we are always the same, and that’s what Third Space means to me. No matter what kind of day you had there, good days, bad days, middling days, this space is yours. And when you come to this space, people will know you, they will see you, they will appreciate you, they will be happy that you are there.”