Gymshark Dives into Gym Ownership with Planned Miami Location
Gymshark is opening its first gym, the Gymshark Lifting Club, in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood this summer 2026. The fitness apparel brand has grown to 20 million members across 230 countries since 2012 and recently expanded into U.S. wholesale through Dick's Sporting Goods.
This vertical integration shows how DTC brands are creating experiential retail to strengthen community and reduce reliance on third-party marketplaces. Fitness brands selling on Amazon should consider how physical experiences could differentiate them from commodity competitors.
This reflects the broader trend of successful DTC brands reducing marketplace reliance by creating unique physical experiences that Amazon, Walmart, and Target cannot replicate.
Review your brand's community engagement metrics on social platforms -- if engagement is high, consider experiential marketing to reduce marketplace dependency.
Analyze your fitness/lifestyle product reviews for community-building language to identify opportunities for offline experiences.
Bottom Line
Gymshark's gym opening shows DTC brands bypassing marketplaces through experiences.
Source Lens
Industry Context
Useful background context, but lower-priority than direct platform, community, or operator intelligence.
Impact Level
low
Gymshark's gym opening shows DTC brands bypassing marketplaces through experiences.
Key Stat / Trigger
20 million members across 230 countries
Focus on the operational implication, not just the headline.
Full Coverage
Weightlifting community and apparel brand Gymshark has seen impressive growth since its 2012 founding, now counting 20 million members across 230 countries. However, what Gymshark hasn’t had until now is its own gym.
That will change this summer, when the Gymshark Lifting Club opens in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, a city where the company has held events that have attracted as many as 20,000 lifting enthusiasts.
Gymshark began as an online-only retailer but the brand moved into physical retail in 2022 with the opening of its first flagship store, on London’s Regent Street. Stores in Manchester, UK, Amsterdam and Dubai followed, and in December 2025 Gymshark opened its first U. S.
flagship store in NYC, a 13,000-square-foot space described as a physical love letter to New York City. This followed the UK brand’s U. S. wholesale debut in 12 Dick’s Sporting Goods stores in October 2025. “The question I’ve been asked the most over the past 13 years is, ‘When is Gymshark going to open a gym?’”
said Ben Francis, CEO and Founder of Gymshark in a statement. “Our community has been crying out for it, and it’s something I’ve always dreamed about, but the timing and location had to be right. I’ve visited Miami many times, but even from the very first visit, I knew this would be the only place to open Gymshark’s first gym.
The fitness culture, the lifting legacy, the insatiable appetite for health meant it could only ever be Wynwood.” Gymshark has held some of its biggest-ever events in Miami, with more than 20,000 attendees coming to lift, meet their heroes and set personal bests with trainers.
The Wynwood neighborhood boasts powerlifting gyms as well as high-end luxury fitness centers and outdoor beach workouts. “We talk a lot about being the gym brand,” added Francis. “I genuinely believe that opening our own gym only strengthens that claim. And, at the end of the day, a lot of people always assumed we owned gyms, purely because of the name.
Well, now we do and I’m so proud to say that We Do Gyms.”
Original Source
This briefing is based on reporting from Retail TouchPoints. Use the original post for full primary-source context.
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