Welltodo Today: Soul Cycle and Target, Is Fitness First Being Sold, Marriott Tops Employee Wellness

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

How Marriott Got To The Top Of The Hotel Industry By Focusing On Employee Health And Wellness (Full Article: Forbes)

“With over 400,000 employees (after the proposed acquisition of Starwood) in their managed locations, Marriott spans 31 brands, across 100 countries all over the world. They are the largest hotel company in the world, knitted together by their people centric culture that David and his team have been spearheading. David has been with the company since 1998, holding the Global CHRO title since 2006.  Marriott was founded on the principles that if you take care of employees, they will in turn, take care of customers; employees feeling good about themselves will be inspired to serve others.  It is this belief that is utilized for business effectiveness.” Read more.

Lululemon Naked Pants Part II: This Time It’s Actually by Design (Full Article: Bloomberg)

“Lululemon Athletica Inc. is at a turning point. It’s been two years since the active-wear company brought in Laurent Potdevin as chief executive officer. His task: cut the waste and expense of designing, making and distributing its garments, and rebuild customer trust after the 2013 recall of $98 yoga pants for becoming sheer when the wearer bent over. Now Potdevin is staking the company’s future on innovation, including pants that make women feel naked when they wear them.” Read more.

SoulCycle just took a huge step away from its elite reputation (Full Article: Business Insider)

“SoulCycle has a reputation. It’s elite, and it’s expensive. The company has partnered with a budget-minded company, however, in a possible attempt to appeal to more consumers. Well + Good reports that SoulCycle has teamed up with Target to offer free pop-up classes across 10 cities in the US.” Read more.

Barry’s Bootcamp growth is strong signal for boutique fitness trend (Full Article: Yahoo! Finance)

“If all the volatility on Wall Street in the first week of 2016 hasn’t raised your heart rate enough, Barry’s Bootcamp — one of the hottest and fastest-growing boutique fitness chains — can help. Barry’s Bootcamp CEO Joey Gonzalez joined Yahoo Finance this week to break down why the chain’s signature hour-long workout has become so popular, with traffic, of course, even higher during this resolution-infused month.” Read more.

Fitness First Gets In Shape For Break-Up (Full Article: Sky News)

“One of Britain’s biggest gym chains is embarking on a new year exercise that could see its international empire dismantled and sold to a string of rivals. Sky News has learnt that the owners of Fitness First are in the process of appointing bankers to work on a review of options for the business, which could result in a partial or complete exit from their investment.” Read more.