ClassPass, the largest fitness-class booking platform in the U.S., reported a 66% increase in Pilates bookings between 2024 and 2025. It was the most booked workout type on the entire platform for the third consecutive year.
The market is real, demand is verifiable, and the membership model has features few sectors can match: predictable revenue, high customer retention, and low dependence on large staff.
Xponential Fitness, the corporation that owns Club Pilates and StretchLab, the two most recommended Pilates and Stretch brands in the market, paid a record $17 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in March 2026 for violations of franchise rules. The company’s combined litigation settlements totaled $39.75 million, while Club Pilates comparable-store sales fell 3% in 2025.
This article explains what all that means, what solid alternatives exist outside the Xponential ecosystem, and how to evaluate a franchise in this sector with real data before signing.
Why Pilates and Stretch are an ideal model for the E-2 visa
The logic behind this sector as a vehicle for the E-2 investor visa did not change with Xponential’s problems. What changed is which brands have a better profile to implement it.
The sector’s three structural arguments remain valid in 2026.
Recurring revenue from month one. The monthly membership model generates predictable billing from the day the first client signs their contract. That is exactly what the consulate needs to see in a business plan: a business with verifiable cash flow, not an optimistic projection. Our guide on working capital to survive the first year with an E-2 visa explains why that recurring-revenue model reduces the risk of running out of capital during the first months.
Small physical footprint and controllable operating costs. Boutique franchises operate in efficient spaces between 2,500 and 3,500 square feet, with minimal staff, while corporate teams handle customer support and sales. That means lower rent, fewer employees to manage, and higher net margin available to the owner than in the restaurant sector.
High customer retention. A Pilates client who finds a studio they like rarely changes it. The switching cost is high because instructors become part of the weekly routine. Brands like BODYBAR report customer retention rates of 92%, a figure no fast-food restaurant can match.
The problem that changed the analysis: what happened to Xponential in 2026
We need to be direct about this point because it is the most relevant information for anyone evaluating an investment in this sector right now.
Xponential Fitness is the largest boutique fitness corporation in the world, with more than 2,600 studios across multiple brands: Club Pilates, StretchLab, Pure Barre, YogaSix and others.
The landscape in 2026 is considerably more complex than when the original piece was published.
In March 2026, Xponential Fitness signed a consent agreement with the FTC that requires it to pay $22.75 million over 35 months to 509 current and former franchisees who alleged they were harmed by the company’s false statements and omissions. The disputes date back to 2023. Xponential is also under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
The SEC investigation, opened in 2023, was closed in July 2025 with no action.
What did the FTC specifically tell Xponential? The violations relate to the Franchise Rule, the rules that protect franchise buyers from false or misleading information about financial performance. The FTC noted that Xponential had previously represented a six-month break-even time that the consent agreement explicitly rejected as inaccurate.
In other words: the corporation was telling investors they would recover their investment in six months, and that wasn’t true. The real break-even time is 12 months or more.
And there is an additional data point that confirms the pressure the system is experiencing. Club Pilates comparable-store sales (SSS) fell 3% in 2025, and Xponential reported a net loss of $53.7 million. The corporation is even being pressured by some of its own investors to consider a sale.
This does not mean that all Club Pilates or StretchLab studios are bad businesses. It means the corporate context behind those brands has warning signs that should be analyzed before committing capital: exactly the type of analysis we develop in our guide on the key points of the FDD and the fatal error for the E-2 visa.
The market is still solid: the problem is not Pilates, it’s the brand
There is an important distinction to make before dismissing the sector entirely.
Xponential’s problems are those of a specific corporation with its own investors and franchisees. They are not problems of the Pilates market in general.
Independent Pilates studios grew 22% in 2024, while ClassPass reported a 66% increase in Pilates bookings between 2024 and 2025. Pilates outpaced spinning and HIIT in U.S. consumer search behavior.
Demand is real and growing. What changes with the 2026 data is which brands have the best profile to capitalize on it.
Pilates Addiction, founded by former Xponential CEO Anthony Geisler, has already surpassed 200 territories sold and plans to open more than 100 locations in 2026. Studio Pilates International entered 2026 with an average U.S. AUV of $888,774.
The market is in full effervescence, but the consolidation of private capital around Xponential’s brands is leaving room for new brands with a better profile for the individual investor arriving for the first time.
The 3 brands with the best profile for the Latin American investor in 2026
With Xponential’s context in mind, these are the sector brands with the best combination of accessibility, transparency, and consular approval profile for the E-2 visa.
1. BODYBAR Pilates: the most solid alternative outside Xponential
BODYBAR is not part of Xponential. It is an independent brand that positioned itself as a premium alternative to the corporate ecosystem, focusing on a high-end athletic experience and exceptional customer retention.
Its 92% retention rate is the most relevant data point for an E-2 business plan: it demonstrates that membership revenue is predictable and sustainable over time, not just in the first month after opening.
- Initial investment: franchise fee of $49,500, with total investment from $250,000
- Advantage for E-2 visa: real territorial protection (area exclusivity), which eliminates the risk of another brand location competing in your area of influence
- No Xponential legal baggage: by not being part of that ecosystem, it does not have the litigation history that affects the FDD’s perception
2. JetSet Pilates: the model with the greatest operational autonomy
Founded in Florida and expanding nationally, JetSet combines the reformer with choreographic elements and a premium-club aesthetic. Its most important differentiator for a new investor is operational: it allows managing local marketing with greater freedom than other brands, which facilitates penetration into high-density Hispanic communities in Texas and Florida.
- Initial investment: franchise fee of $50,000, with total investment near $350,000 including equipment and sound system
- Advantage for E-2 visa: greater owner control over local commercial strategy, which reinforces the investor’s managerial role before the consulate
3. Stretch Zone: the assisted stretch model that fits the E-2 perfectly
If the Pilates sector is under pressure from consolidation by Xponential, the assisted stretch and muscle-recovery segment has a different, cleaner dynamic for a new investor.
Stretch Zone operates with an assisted stretch chair model and 30-minute sessions with certified instructors. Its market includes athletes, older adults, office workers and anyone with chronic muscle pain — a customer base considerably broader than pure Pilates.
- Initial investment: between $120,000 and $250,000, depending on the premises and location — one of the most accessible entry points in the segment
- Advantage for the E-2 visa: relatively high average ticket per 30-minute session, recurring membership revenue, low dependence on complex equipment, and a customer base that includes older adults — the fastest-growing segment in the U.S. due to the structural aging of the baby boomer population
Why the membership model makes the business plan shine for the E-2 visa
There is a specific reason why Pilates and Stretch studios profile better for the consular file than many restaurant franchises: the monthly membership model.
The consular officer who evaluates an E-2 visa application looks to demonstrate that the business is not marginal. One of the most effective ways to do that is to show active membership contracts: real customers who committed to pay monthly for a set period.
That converts future income into verifiable commitments, which strengthens the business plan in a way that restaurant projections based on daily customer counts cannot match.
To understand how that financial argument is structured in the business plan, our guide on forming your company and creating a business plan for the E-2 visa develops it in detail
What the FDD says before committing capital: what to read
Regardless of the brand chosen, there are five points in the FDD you cannot skip in the boutique fitness sector.
Item 19 with AUV of franchised (non-corporate) units. The most rigorous sector analysis requires demanding the median AUV and the lower-quartile AUV for franchised units, not for corporate-owned locations. The differences can be significant. Our guide on what AUV is and how not to be misled explains that distinction.
Net change in units over three years. The FDD should show how many locations opened and how many closed. The net difference is more revealing than the absolute number of units. A system that opens 30 and closes 25 in one year is not growing.
Litigation history (Item 3). In Xponential’s case, this item is especially relevant because the corporation has documented active litigation affecting multiple brands in the portfolio.
Actual break-even time according to the FDD. The FTC fined Xponential specifically because it reported a six-month break-even that was not accurate. Any verbal estimate not included in the FDD has no legal value.
Territorial protection. Club Pilates, according to the original article, does not offer territorial protection, which can lead to market saturation in dense areas. BODYBAR does offer protection. That difference has direct consequences for long-term revenue projections.
The right sector depends on capital and city
The Pilates and Stretch model works best in areas with a high concentration of middle-to-high income professionals, predominantly women aged 25–55, and a high density of rental residential units in growing suburban areas.
In Texas, the markets of Stone Oak in San Antonio, Katy in Houston and Frisco in Dallas have that demographic profile. In Florida, the Brickell–Doral corridor in Miami and the Lake Nona area in Orlando concentrate exactly the demographics that consume these services.
To understand why San Antonio specifically has a favorable mix of demographics and operating costs for this type of business, our guide on why San Antonio is the city most chosen by Latin American investors develops this with up-to-date data.
What to be clear about before moving forward
The Pilates and Stretch sector in the U.S. in 2026 is a real opportunity, with growing demand, a solid membership model and a good profile for the E-2 visa.
What has changed since the original piece is that the largest operator in the sector shows warning signs you should know about, and there are alternatives outside that ecosystem that offer better transparency and lower legal burden in the FDD.
At Interlink we evaluate franchises in this sector together with the investor profile, destination city and immigration objective, not as a generic recommendation but as a specific analysis that crosses the FDD with the business plan.
If you want us to evaluate whether BODYBAR, JetSet, Stretch Zone or another option in the sector fits your capital and objective, schedule your free consultation here and we’ll analyze it together.
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