In a bold yet considered move, wellness celebrity, fitness expert and health specialist, Lisa Raleigh has expanded her hugely successful brand and business empire by launching her first brick-and-mortar retail store.
In a world gone virtual due to the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact, Lisa and her husband, technology businessman and investor, Stafford Masie, have again chosen to zig as the broader industry trend is to zag.
READ MORE | Lisa Raleigh Launches SA’s First Locally Developed Sports Bra
Blended model is the future
“People are ‘Zoomed out’ and want to blend our new virtual lives with more in-person engagements,” explains Lisa.
“While the online world will remain, we believe it is critical to create a hybrid model that can accommodate the demand for virtual workouts and shopping experiences when time is tight with options for in-person and in-store engagements and live workouts when people crave the physical interaction and the experience.”
You can find the first Lisa Raleigh store in Johannesburg’s bustling Nicolway Shopping Centre. The store opened its doors to the public on 10 July 2022 and there are already plans in place to expand the store footprint to Cape Town.
Creating a space that brings together the different brands within Lisa’s business empire serves as the main rationale for a physical store, explains Lisa.
“My vision for the space is creating an point of intersection for the exercise, clothing and nutrition brands, products and advisory services that embody my holistic approach to healthy living.”
READ MORE | One On One With Fit Pro Lisa Raleigh
Try before you buy
Her new store, complete with luxe fittings and inspiring imagery as part of its launch décor, gives consumers the opportunity to try and experience before investing in Lisa’s popular and proven products and services.
Creating a single touch point across her integrated offering allows shoppers to access Lisa’s bespoke expert advice and information through her Lr advisory and consulting business, along with a custom fitting experience, and the ability to touch and engage with all Lisa Raleigh products to discover the best combination to meet their individual needs.
Shoppers can spend time in store talking to Lisa’s expert advisory team about the health and wellness services offered, which include dietetics, lifestyle guidance and DNA testing through DNAlysis.
They can then trial and test items to enhance and add value to their personal wellness and fitness journey.
READ MORE | For The Sake Of Your Health, Become A Super Sleeper
Extensive offering
These products include the Biogen Super Scoop range, developed in conjunction with Lisa, as well as Lisa’s new premium quality Body Kind athleisure range, which includes t-shirts, reversible jackets, track and jogger pants and tote bags and are all proudly made in South Africa.
Shoppers can also try and purchase the best bounti rebounder from the extensive collection. The range includes a unique variety of rebounders, including the South African-manufactured bounti Studio Deluxe rebounder.
Rebounders are appropriate for all fitness levels and ages and have become a popular exercise modality in South Africa in recent years.
The bounti brand also offers a collection of locally-designed and manufactured accessories, including carry bags and workout equipment that expand the rebounding experience, with access to a subscription-based online training platform that empowers people to train at home using the revolutionary equipment.
READ MORE | 3 Eating Lean Recipes From Lisa
Contrarian business strategy
When crafting this contrarian business strategy, Lisa and Stafford took key learnings from their experience in opening a rebounding studio in October 2020 at the height of the lockdown.
“We chose to open a studio at a time when most people in the industry were closing down or downsizing. We felt it was the right decision as we identified rising demand for in-person engagement at the time.”
And their intuition proved correct as the business has grown exponentially over the last 18 months.
In addition, breakthrough research conducted on bounti rebounding earned this exercise modality a seal of approval by CANSA, which has helped to support the growth in this aspect of Lisa’s business.
“Rebounding can help reduce cancer risk, which has helped attract more men to our studio. We also offer programmes, workouts and equipment aligned with the needs of children as young as three,” continues Lisa.
Lisa’s comprehensive online library of rebounding workouts and programmes contains several world-first rebounding programmes, and her bounti instructor programme has trained and certified rebounding trainers globally as the programme expands into the UK.
Available classes include Boga (rebounding and yoga), HIIT on a rebounder, and bounti Glow for the more mature generation of fitness models, among others.
Bounding to success
Plans are now in place to open a rebounding studio in Bryanston that is three times bigger than the Parktown North studio.
“We have taken learnings from the smaller studio and applied them to this new space,” explains Lisa. The new studio will also offer Lisa’s latest innovation – bounti booting.
“Bounti boots absorb 70% of your weight, which offers people a suitable low-impact alternative to running, which is not suitable or safe for everyone.”
The instability the boots create engages more stabilisers and gets the heart rate pumping without the injury risks associated with high-impact exercise.
“In our experience, bounti booting is giving older and overweight people a new lease on life and helping them achieve amazing results,” adds Lisa.
Lisa says people should also look out for bounti bungee, which is a form of suspended low-impact training that the new studio will offer.
Visit the Lisa Raleigh boutique store at the Nicolway Shopping Centre, located on the corner of William Nicol Drive and Wedgewood Link Road, Bryanston, or visit www.lisaraleigh.com for more info.
Author: Pedro van Gaalen
When he’s not writing about sport or health and fitness, Pedro is probably out training for his next marathon or ultra-marathon. He’s worked as a fitness professional and as a marketing and comms expert. He now combines his passions in his role as managing editor at Fitness magazine.
Leave a Reply