Welltodo Today: Investment Floods Into Wellness, The Gym Group Loses Members, The Rise Of The Chief Wellbeing Officer

Today’s key global wellness news articles from around the world, impacting the industry and influencing the business of wellness.

The Rise Of The Chief Wellbeing Officer

Discussion of a Chief Wellbeing Officer has been circulating in the workplace for years. Why has this taken so long to become a reality, what is the benefit of having a CWO and how does a company implement a CWO position? The time for wellbeing in the workplace is now, and a CWO can greatly help.

Neighborhood Goods Proves Its New Department Store Model Works, As Macy’s And JCPenney Flounder

Traditional department stores have been experiencing a slow and painful to watch death for years. The pandemic may be the final nail in their coffin. J.C. Penney and Neiman Marcus have declared bankruptcy. Sears and Lord & Taylor are all but gone, and Macy’s is hanging on by a thread.

Sportswear underdogs Castore gear up for a fight

The sporting world has a soft spot for tales of plucky underdogs overcoming their bigger rivals. Think Leicester City’s unlikely rise to Premier League champions or a 17-year-old Boris Becker winning Wimbledon. Now the young founders of the sportswear brand Castore are hoping to replicate those legendary triumphs, with a grand ambition: to create a challenger to Nike and Adidas from their base in Liverpool.

Samsung Start-up Produces Circadian Lighting Windows | Stylus

Samsung-backed Korean start-up SunnyFive is developing a fake window that mimics natural light to boost mood and energy. While its design is decorative, the device demonstrates the importance of light on wellbeing, and suggests the increasing role that sunlight simulation will have, particularly in urban centres.

Sweaty Betty ditches ‘insensitive’ Sanskrit names for yoga clothing

Following the killing of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement has provoked global change, prompting a reckoning across all areas of celebrity and business. In response to calls for change, Sweaty Betty has announced changes to their product names, many of which formerly featured Sanskrit words.

During Coronavirus, Investment Money Floods Into Wellness

The coronavirus pandemic has put a damper on a lot of things, but wellness M&A is not one of them. Consumer interest in being healthy has never been higher, experts agree, and during the COVID-19 pandemic that has translated into higher sales in categories like supplements, at-home fitness and self-care.

The Gym Group loses members as it prepares to reopen outside Leicester

The Gym Group lost one in five of its members since lockdown started, it said today, as it gets ready to reopen most of its gyms on 25 July. The hit to its numbers came despite the group freezing all membership payments during lockdown. It has around 692,000 remaining customers.