SOELU Women-Only Fitness Studio Reaches 100 Locations Nationwide in About Three Years and Three Months

SOELU Inc. (headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Satoshi Shirato; CFO: Shihao Jiang) announced that its proprietary studio brand, “Women-Only Fitness Studio SOELU,” which combines machine Pilates and herbal steam therapy, has reached 100 locations nationwide about three years and three months after launching the service. The model proposes a new wellness habit of “warming and conditioning” while supporting women’s lifestyles and physical well-being, and has expanded widely from urban centers to regional areas, achieving rapid multi-store growth. Women-Only Fitness Studio SOELU is a fitness studio that helps women maintain an accessible exercise habit and support comfortable everyday health. Drawing on expertise developed through online fitness, SOELU combines studio equipment and services to expand a new wellness experience centered on “warming and conditioning.” Herbal steam therapy warms the body from within and supports relaxation and circulation. Machine Pilates helps improve posture and core strength while aiming for a supple body. By combining the two, SOELU delivers “warming × conditioning” at the same time and provides a new wellness experience that is easy to continue. Its beginner-friendly design and efficient programs that can be completed in a short time have also gained support from a wide range of users. Since opening its first location in June 2023, SOELU has expanded across Japan and reached 100 locations in about three years and three months. As a franchise-style gym, it has achieved a growth rate among the fastest in the industry. The company attributes its rapid multi-store expansion to customer understanding and service design developed through its online business, services tailored to women’s lifestyles, a compact and efficient store operation model, and a flexible nationwide rollout strategy. SOELU aims to provide studios that are both easy to access and easy to continue using, not only in urban areas but also in regional markets. While using a franchise model, the company maintains service quality and stable growth, actively opening locations across Japan with the goal of becoming a familiar presence within women’s daily living areas. The total number of lessons taken, including both online fitness and in-studio visits, has reached about 12 million. As a service used in everyday life, SOELU is helping establish ongoing exercise habits. Studios offer multiple types of content, including machine Pilates, herbal steam therapy, yoga, and other studio lessons. User surveys show the highest satisfaction with machine Pilates lessons, and many users combine them with herbal steam therapy. The experience of balancing condition care and exercise through “warming × conditioning” has been highly evaluated. Machine Pilates, which has the highest satisfaction rating, is started by 80% of users with no prior experience. Beginner-friendly program design helps lower the barrier to building an exercise habit. Users are mainly in their 30s to 50s, with those in their 40s representing the largest group. Use is expanding especially among people with strong interest in health awareness and physical condition management, positioning SOELU as a place for everyday conditioning. The 100th location will be opened in station and commercial facilities, bringing the brand closer to daily life. On June 11, SOELU will open two new locations: Lairia Kasugabaru in Kasuga City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and Aeon Nishiarai in Adachi-ku, Tokyo. The Lairia Kasugabaru location will open inside Lairia Kasugabaru, a commercial facility directly connected to Kasugabaru Station on the Nishitetsu Tenjin Omuta Line. It aims to serve as a wellness hub on daily routes, making it easy for station users and nearby residents to stop by between commuting, school, or shopping. The Aeon Nishiarai location will open inside Aeon Nishiarai, a large commercial facility in Adachi-ku, Tokyo. By expanding into everyday commercial facilities, SOELU is creating studios that are more familiar and easier for local residents to visit. SOELU will continue expanding studios nationwide, regardless of urban or regional location, so that women can maintain their health naturally within daily life. Lairia Kasugabaru store information: store name Lairia Kasugabaru; opening date June 11, 2026; address 1F Lairia Kasugabaru, 3-90-1 Kasugabaru Kitamachi, Kasuga City, Fukuoka 816-0802; business hours 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Aeon Nishiarai store information: store name Aeon Nishiarai; opening date June 11, 2026; address 4F Aeon Nishiarai, 3-32-7 Umejima, Adachi-ku, Tokyo 121-0816; business hours 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Director and CPO Asami Koshizuka commented that during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people used online SOELU as a pioneer in home fitness. After the pandemic subsided, despite headwinds, the company revisited its vision of “making sustainable health a given.” Customers’ voices saying they wanted a place they could visit led SOELU to create physical spaces. The DX model, which combines machine Pilates and herbal steam therapy with 24-hour self-use and online lessons, has been supported as a system that lets busy women keep attending at their own pace. SOELU aims for 1,000 locations nationwide and seeks to create a society where health becomes part of everyday life rather than something special. SOELU is also using its online track record for store development and franchise recruitment. Since opening its first store, the Kawaguchi location in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, in June 2023, the company has expanded to 100 locations. As a franchise-style gym, it has achieved one of the industry’s fastest growth rates. SOELU improves operational efficiency by leveraging its experience in fitness businesses that support healthy lifestyles, including online lessons and personal training. By focusing on DX lessons, it provides high-quality classes while minimizing the need to hire instructors. Equipment such as machines is also selected based on women’s needs and actual usage data from operating multiple locations, making SOELU closely integrated into customers’ lives, with an average of 6.2 visits per month per customer across all stores from March 2025 to March 2026. Customers who use the studios have given many positive comments, such as appreciating not only lessons on the studio’s large screens but also staff guidance, and finding it worthwhile because they can take lessons at home on days when they do not have time to visit a store or feel tired after work. To continue serving women nationwide, SOELU is urgently pursuing store expansion throughout Japan and is continuously recruiting franchise owners. As a new DX gym in the fitness industry, SOELU has established a unique position and successfully differentiated itself from conventional gyms and studios. Because it is a low-investment, recurring-revenue model, early payback within three years can also be expected. SOELU says it will continue creating fitness studios where women can feel even a little more positive and healthy every day, and where they can think, “After coming to SOELU, I was able to like myself again.” Company overview: SOELU Inc. was established on April 1, 2014, and is located at 701 Shin-Roppongi Building, 7-15-7 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its representatives are CEO Satoshi Shirato and CFO Shihao Jiang.