00:00Right now, the alcohol industry is taking a hit, with beer, wine, and spirit makers losing a combined $830 billion
00:06in market share from 2021 to 2025.
00:09Yeah, and it turns out Gen Z-ers, they're actually looking to barbells over bar stools.
00:14You get it now, guys? Okay, for their social outlets.
00:18Bloomberg Pursuits journalist Sarah Rapport, she talked to me about it a few days ago.
00:24It's both a health decision, and they're also looking for a community and places that they can't find at the
00:28bar,
00:29because more and more young people don't drink.
00:31So it's not just a health choice. It's a health choice and a choice to try and find more friends
00:35outside the office or the bar, really.
00:39All right, I want to dig into that community aspect in just a bit, but I have to ask, because
00:43we're talking Gen Z and millennials,
00:45what about the Gen X-ers and boomers? Where do we stand?
00:49Well, the research shows that they're still going to the bar. They're still going to dinner.
00:54Maybe they're having dinner parties or house parties and owning homes.
00:57For the Gen Z who went to college, perhaps, in the pandemic, and they had to work out from home
01:03with YouTube videos,
01:04they had to go to class on Zoom, they really want to go work out with other people.
01:08They're really into finding a community in a place that they can't, because they maybe started their career remotely.
01:13So they're spending all this money in classes to find a community that they didn't have after graduating college.
01:19So you talk about community. So is it more, you know, socializing? Like, can they just go out and go
01:24on like a dating app?
01:26But no, they want to go and like be where the people are. I guess it is what you're leading
01:30to.
01:31Yes, exactly. I spoke to a technology consultant who said she met her boyfriend at a run club, not at
01:37a dating app, not at a bar, but at a run club.
01:39And she made friends at Pilates. She goes to the same class every day. She compared it to school.
01:44She said it was like sitting next to the same person week after week in a class. It was like
01:48being in college.
01:49And if you need something to talk about, there's always a class, right?
01:53So it was like an easy icebreaker and a sense of familiarity and community that you just don't get elsewhere
01:59for them.
02:00And aside from that, they're throwing parties there, like bachelorette parties? Like, this is the thing now?
02:07I didn't have my bachelorette party at a Pilates studio. I did something else.
02:11But yeah, they're telling me that they're hiring out the whole studios, spending thousands of dollars to rent out the
02:16equipment, have a teacher in, have mocktails instead of going to the bar.
02:20They'll bring their girlfriends to a Pilates class, which is kind of wholesome, I think.
02:24All right. So you mentioned money. So how much are these Gen Z and millennials, how much are they spending
02:29on memberships, on classes, on things like that?
02:33I spoke to one person whose budget was $800 a month on fitness, which is quite a lot of money.
02:39But they're outspending proportionally, millennials and Gen X and boomers, proportionally to their income, on fitness.
02:46And spending more than last year in a Mintel survey as well. So it's growing.
02:51The trend seems to be nonstop.
02:53And part of it is that they can say that they feel better afterwards.
02:56Unlike going to a bar, there's no hangovers.
02:58There's no wearable, like an aura ring or whoop telling you your readiness score is lower the next day.
03:03They just feel better after a gym class.
03:05Okay. It's good to feel that way.
03:07You don't want to have the hangover all the time.
03:09But they're doing all this and they're spending all this money when, you know, rents are higher, when they're dealing
03:14with student debt.
03:15Like, how are they making this work?
03:17I think it's a sort of, like, zero-sum game in their heads, as if maybe I can never afford
03:22a house, but I can put maybe a 200-pound or $200 membership on a credit card, right?
03:27So if they don't see long-term prospects, there's the risk of AI for their future.
03:32They might as well do something that makes them feel good in the short term.
03:35And I think gym spending is a big part of that.
03:37It is.
03:38Now, in the article, you mentioned one thing that I want to point out.
03:40You talk about how wellness has become a full-fledged identity.
03:44Now, I know my social media feed, it's filled with, you know, people working out.
03:49It's, you know, what am I meal prepping for the week?
03:51Like, all these different things.
03:53I mean, does social media have a lot to do with it, too, about more people going or these younger
03:58generations going to the gym?
04:00Yeah, I do think there is a performative aspect with, like, the hashtag Pilates on TikTok,
04:05the clean girl aesthetic of people wearing their matching $200 Pilates sets and wanting to look the part.
04:11I think that is a really big part.
04:13I spoke to a content creator in Atlanta who's 23, and she documents all of her gym sessions.
04:18She's made friends at the gym, but she's also made it her business online, like her content creation arm.
04:24So I think the lifestyle aspect and the way that social media has really driven that,
04:28wanting to look a certain way and perform a certain way online is huge.
04:32Okay, go back to me.
04:33The clean girl, what is it?
04:35Explain that one to me.
04:37Yeah, the clean girl look is, like, athleisure and wearing less obvious makeup.
04:43Okay, got it.
04:43Yeah, sort of a, as opposed to the millennial, I would say, like, Kesha aesthetic, if that makes sense to
04:49you.
04:49It's a different one, wanting to look, yeah, more, like, wellness-oriented, as if instead of you just got back
04:56from the bar.
04:57Okay, got it.
04:57And last question, does GLP-1s, does that have anything to do with this as well?
05:02Does that play into the picture?
05:04I think it does.
05:05That didn't come up so much in the research.
05:07The people who are on GLP-1s are told to strength train as part of that regimen.
05:12So I think that could be, as more younger people get on GLP-1s, as it becomes more mainstream,
05:17and wanting to strength train to keep up that as part of the medicine,
05:20I think that'll be a really big ongoing part of this, trying to keep it going into the future.
05:25All right, I work out in my basement.
05:27Now, I don't even go to the gym.
05:29So this seems like, yeah, it's a big social thing.
05:33But are people still going to the bars?
05:35Like, how are bars and restaurants doing?
05:38Bars and restaurants are making menus that cope with people who are on GLP-1s.
05:42Some more small plates, smaller portions, mocktail options.
05:45I've seen a lot of more creative mocktails now for people who aren't drinking.
05:50So I think there, of course, is a space for bars and restaurants.
05:53I, for one, enjoy a nice bar or dinner out.
05:55But I think that hospitality, especially like hoteliers and business owners,
05:59need to find a way to make a community in the way that the gyms are killing it at
06:03to really get that Gen Z spend at the moment.
06:06I got it.
06:07I'll meet you at happy hour, Sarah.
06:09Sarah Rappaport.
06:10I'll join you.
06:10Sounds great.
06:11We can have a mocktail and do a Pilates class.
06:14Totally.
06:15Bloomberg Pursuits.
06:16Thank you so much.
06:19So, David, Christina and I have decided that we're going to go to a class.
06:22You're going to go.
06:22Yes.
06:22Yeah.
06:23Are you going to join?
06:23No.
06:24I'll have a cocktail and skip the Pilates class.
06:26But I hope you guys have a great time.
06:28Whenever that transpires, I am eager to hear about it.
06:31It'll be great.
06:32Come on.
06:32You don't want to, like, come and hang out and do some, you know, hundreds with us?
06:35No.
06:36Thank you very much for joining us.
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