How Extraordinary Brands Is Evolving Its Fitness Portfolio for the Next Generation

In boutique fitness, standing still can be just as dangerous as moving too quickly. That philosophy is helping shape the next chapter at Extraordinary Brands, the boutique fitness franchisor behind Neighborhood Barre, Row House, CycleBar and Rumble. The company has spent 2026 investing in the infrastructure, people, marketing and brand strategy needed to strengthen all four concepts.

“Five to 10 years ago, approachability was often the priority,” said Katy Richardson, chief operating officer of Extraordinary Brands and founder of Neighborhood Barre. “Today, approachability alone is not enough. Every brand needs a clear point of view. Our goal has been to sharpen what already makes each brand distinct, not reinvent it for the sake of standing out.”

But Extraordinary Brands is not approaching that work as a one-size-fits-all rebranding exercise. Instead, the company is identifying what makes each concept distinctive and building a sharper emotional position around each.

For Neighborhood Barre, that means Control. For Rumble, it is Release. CycleBar is centered on Replenish, while Row House leans into Vitality.

Together, those ideas represent a broader philosophy: In an increasingly crowded fitness industry, brands need to stand for something relevant, resonant, and remarkable.

Moving From Fitness Modalities to Emotional Brands

Extraordinary Brands has partnered with One of One Brands to rethink how its concepts communicate with consumers. For founding partner Arnava Asen, the opportunity is not simply to make the brands look newer. It is to make them more meaningful for patrons.

That distinction becomes increasingly important as fitness consumers have more choices and brands increasingly make similar claims around community, wellness and inclusivity.

“The riskiest thing a brand can do right now is play it safe,” Asen said.

The strategy is to identify the desired emotional benefit underneath each workout and build a brand around the promise of achieving it together. Rather than simply selling barre, boxing, cycling or rowing, Extraordinary Brands wants each concept to articulate why that particular experience matters in a consumer’s life.

That work is also happening alongside a larger operational investment. Extraordinary Brands has made franchisee profitability a central priority while building teams, resources, technology and support systems across the portfolio.

“Every new franchisee entering the system benefits from a stronger foundation than we had before,” Richardson said. “We’re making significant investments across all four brands to strengthen the experience for both current and future franchisees.”

Neighborhood Barre: Control

Neighborhood Barre presents a unique challenge because its evolution needs to preserve the grassroots identity that helped the brand grow in the first place.

“When it comes to Neighborhood Barre, the brand has genuinely built a community around this mission of providing these neighborhoods with a very female-forward space to create community,” Asen said. “In this day and age, especially with private equity-backed everything, it’s nice to see a female founder from the grassroots building something really remarkable and then growing it.”

The challenge, Asen says, is preserving that authenticity as the franchise expands across the country. “Scale is really the enemy of brand,” he said. “The brand needed to dress for the job it wants, not the job it has. How do you do that without compromising?”

The answer has been to get more focused. While competitors may add modalities or expand their messaging in an effort to attract everyone, Neighborhood Barre is doubling down on the barre workout itself and explaining why its small, intentional movements are so challenging and valuable.

The brand's central idea is Control, reflecting the physical control required by barre's micro-movements while creating a larger emotional platform around the workout.

Extraordinary Brands is backing that positioning with investment in digital advertising, franchisee support and the systems required for growth.

“Neighborhood Barre is in its strongest position yet,” Richardson said. “Under Extraordinary Brands, we’ve invested not only in an elevated brand identity, but also in the infrastructure, resources and support available to both current and new franchisees.”

Rumble: Release

Rumble already had something many emerging fitness concepts spend years trying to create: brand affinity. “Rumble has a level of brand affinity that is incredibly difficult to build,” Richardson said. “We brought in One of One to look at the brand with fresh eyes and ask what it should look like today, while protecting what people already love about it. It was about maturing the brand, not reinventing it.”

Asen has a particularly personal connection to the assignment. He was part of the original team that helped launch Rumble, giving him the opportunity to revisit a brand he helped build and consider how it should evolve for a different moment. Rumble's early identity leaned heavily into celebrity and pop culture. That helped make the brand instantly recognizable, but Asen said the next version needed more emotional depth and connection to the sport of boxing.

“The brand is currently pivoting from a proudly superficial positioning to establishing itself as a more substantive brand,” Asen said. “We are trying to grow that brand up a little bit more. Rumble is championing this idea of ‘Release.’ That deepens the idea of fighting and gives us a unique angle to promote for our community that is hungry to fight back their stresses (without necessarily getting in a ring).”

The timing is especially relevant as combat sports gain renewed cultural momentum. Extraordinary Brands is pairing that opportunity with a revamped brand system and additional sales and operational coaching designed to reconnect franchisees with the larger system.

“New franchisees are entering a revitalized brand with a clearer identity and stronger voice, supported by an operational infrastructure that we continue to expand and strengthen.”

CycleBar: Replenish

CycleBar, on the other hand, required another kind of evolution. The brand achieved significant expansion during an era when indoor cycling itself carried enormous cultural momentum. But as the category matured, Extraordinary Brands saw an opportunity to answer a more fundamental question: What does CycleBar actually stand for?

“CycleBar scaled a little too quickly,” Asen said. “And it never really defined what it stood for.”

The answer is not to position CycleBar as the most exclusive, extreme or intimidating workout in the market. In fact, Asen sees its position in the middle as one of its greatest strengths. That thinking led to Replenish, a brand promise built around the idea that modern life constantly depletes people and a CycleBar workout can give something back.

“We aren’t trying to be cool and cultish or ultra-elite; we are just trying to be right for you,” Asen said. “That is a really resonant proposition right now.”

Richardson acknowledged that the change represented a significant turn for the brand and required communication with franchise owners.

“CycleBar owners were ready for something fresh, and the brand evolution gave us an opportunity to modernize how CycleBar shows up while strengthening the sales and operational strategies behind it,” Richardson said. “We’ve seen conversion rates improve, and we’re now applying what we learned through that process to Rumble.”

Row House: Vitality

For Row House, Extraordinary Brands saw an opportunity to embrace what makes the modality fundamentally different. Rowing combines low-impact movement with cardiovascular and strength benefits, giving the brand a natural opportunity to speak to consumers interested in sustainable fitness. Row House's franchise model is built around low-impact, high-intensity indoor rowing and an inclusive, community-driven workout environment.

Rather than trying to appeal broadly to everyone, the evolved positioning focuses on promoting Vitality. Richardson said the industry's previous emphasis on universal approachability could leave brands looking and sounding interchangeable. Row House now has an opportunity to speak much more deliberately to people who want to remain active, strong and capable as they age.

“Now the name of the game is distinction,” Richardson said.

For Row House, vitality gives the concept a reason to exist beyond the mechanics of rowing. It connects the modality's low-impact nature and full-body workout to the larger reason members exercise in the first place: maintaining the ability to live the lives they want.

Building Four Brands That Stand for Something

The through line across Extraordinary Brands' strategy is distinction. Neighborhood Barre does not need to become Rumble. Rumble does not need to become CycleBar. And Row House does not need to chase whatever workout happens to be generating the most buzz this year.

Instead, Extraordinary Brands is giving each concept a clearer lane while providing the shared infrastructure to help franchisees execute against it.

Behind those four promises is one shared objective: building healthier franchise businesses. For Richardson, the opportunity for both existing and prospective owners comes down to the amount of investment now flowing into the brands.

“We are continuing to look at what franchisees need to be successful,” she said. “That is the main priority behind our brand evolutions, and we are excited for the future.”

That may ultimately be the most important evolution happening at Extraordinary Brands. The company is not simply refreshing four fitness concepts for today's consumer. It is working to build four more distinctive brands around a stronger franchise system, with the resources, clarity and support to help owners turn those brands into sustainable businesses.

To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/extraordinary-brands.