Heather Holland opened the first Upswell in 2023 on South Broadway. (Courtesy Upswell)
Upswell is taking some time to regulate.
The neighborhood “wellness club,” as founder and CEO Heather Holland calls it, has paused selling memberships and is taking a break from regular operations to retool its business.
“We were one of the first to bring this … model to Denver, and we’ve really been living the learning curve the last couple of years,” said Holland, who opened Upswell’s first studio at 1842 S. Broadway in 2023. “So we decided to take this intentional pause to build all these learnings into a long-term plan and reopen with the right long-term blueprint.”
Upswell’s spots at 3636 Blake St. in RiNo, which opened in July, and 2271 Clinton St. in Central Park, which opened in mid-2024, are now open three days a week, down from seven.
They offer saunas and cold plunges, compression therapy and infrared therapies three days a week at each location. There are also two types of yoga classes and a mat pilates class, Holland said.
Holland initially announced a total pause in operations two weeks ago. But after hearing from numerous members that Upswell should stay running in some form, she said, she went to three days.
The former chief operating officer for national chain CorePower Yoga hopes to fully reopen early in the new year, she said. Membership prices will likely be comparable to the $189 a month Upswell charged prior to shutting down.
“It just didn’t feel right to sell a membership when you don’t know what schedule is gonna be,” Holland said. “About 80% of our business is the membership model, so we try to make membership really accessible.”
Heather Holland in a cold plunge. (Courtesy Upswell)
But Holland said Upswell’s original South Broadway location is in limbo after closing a month ago due to “regulatory ambiguity” around its above-ground cold plunge pool. She said there are different requirements in Denver for in-ground and above-ground pools.
“Mostly the temperature was the difference,” Holland said. “There are really clear regulations for 77 degree water and above, but there’s a lack of clarity around cold water.”
The RiNo studio has an in-ground pool, so it doesn’t have the same challenges, Holland said. The Central Park location also has an above-ground one, but is in Aurora, whose requirements aren’t as in flux as Denver.
“It was hard to interpret what was gonna stick (in Denver), and we want to go with a model that is clearer,” she said.
Changing the layout of the South Broadway location to allow for an in-ground cold plunge would be a six-figure ordeal, Holland said. She’s in talks with her landlord and expects to decide in the coming months whether to proceed with construction or close the spot entirely.
Members spend on average about 40% of their time between the cold plunge and sauna, so it’s an important detail, Holland said. If Upswell does stay on South Broadway, she said, she might add some coworking space.
“It’s always been our innovation space, and if we reopen that would remain true,” Holland said. “When you’re the first mover, you have to navigate these challenges to pave a path for everyone else.”
For the other two spots, members can expect a more tailored approach to staffing, hours and class offerings when Upswell reopens.
In Central Park, it’s more of a family crowd who comes before and after work and early on weekends. In RiNo, people sleep in on Saturdays and Sundays and use Upswell during all hours on the weekdays, Holland said.
By adjusting the schedules to be more location specific, she thinks Upswell will save money and better the experience for its members.
“We had been staffed seven days a week, 10 to 14 hours a day,” she said. “Sometimes during peak times we’d not be staffed enough, and then off-peak be overstaffed. Part of what we’re trying to do is address the use patterns of each neighborhood.”
Holland did not disclose revenue or membership figures but said Upswell has “really high” retention rates. It also has about 40 employees, with most part-time, she said.
“In our business, and in any membership based business, retention is key to long-term sustainability,” she said. “One of the learnings and the insights we really got is the number of members that you need at a certain price and that retention so you’re not constantly trying to chase new members.”