Wellness and fitness brand Cult.fit will scale up its retail footprints with the opening of 15-20 new stores in the current year, extending its entry into fitness gear and apparel — categories it sees as natural extensions of its core business of gyms.
CEO Naresh Krishnaswamy said that they want to be a one-stop destination for fitness — from shoes and clothing to at-home gear. He added that the pace has picked up over the past two quarters and they’re scaling their offerings and expanding their offline reach.
Presently, the company has 14 stores in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi. Its products also reach consumers through its own digital storefront, partner gyms, top online marketplaces and more recently, through quick commerce platforms with a partnership with Zepto.
Krishnaswamy identified a change in consumer inclination as one of the significant drivers of product strategy. He said that they are witnessing a definite shift away from man-made textiles to cotton and increasing demand for all-day wear shoes. Such findings, he went on, are guiding Cult.fit’s retail expansion map.
Although quick commerce is still a new channel for the brand, Krishnaswamy believes there is potential to leverage it to offer light, non-size-reliant products such as accessories and light apparel. He explained that for products where fit is not a big deal, this model is suitable.
Cult.fit’s ambitions in retail set it directly against global majors such as Decathlon, which has already made significant inroads in India.
The firm also experienced a critical leadership change in FY ’24, with co-founder Krishnaswamy taking over as CEO while Mukesh Bansal became the executive chairman. In the new leadership, Cult.fit recorded a 33.6 per cent increase in operating revenue to Rs. 927 crore (US $ 108 million) in FY24 from Rs. 694 crore (US $ 81.15 million) in the last year.
