What, really, is a club? As a first approximation, we would have to say that it is largely the people—the members—that constitute or otherwise define most clubs or give them their essential character. This desire to freely, yet privately, associate is the organizing principle.
A Tipping Point?
The current private club landscape may be poised for a remarkable expression of diversity and innovation. Many trace the private club scene back to the Victorian Era in England and the rise in both the number and popularity of London’s Gentlemen’s Clubs at the end of the 19th century. The industrial age and political movements provoked new forms of club associations, such as the iconic gentleman’s club, with dining facilities, rooms for socializing and recreation—maybe offering billiards or a card room, as well as rooms for sleep, restrooms and wash rooms. In this way, the club mimicked the gentleman’s home and therefore became a refuge or home-away-from-home where stress could be relieved.
All manner of clubs were offered, reflecting professional ambitions, politic dispositions, literary tastes, educational affiliations and sports enthusiasms but also more narrow interests like travel, automobiles, art and regional affinities around the idea of a gentlemen’s club.
Now, could the information age and the economic opportunities (and disruptions) that follow be arousing new social clubs to serve a range of needs from professional development to personal health to social responsibility?
Although the traditional club industry has had some ups and downs, it seems increasingly apparent that the desire to form associational ties and to pursue joint interests in a supportive environment is not waning. Instead, Club Trends research finds that the new groups in new settings are giving an interesting and creative twist to idea of a club: who it is for; what it envisions; how it is sustained, both financially and socially; and to what extent it is private or something else.
Here are some examples on the current scene in the way of new club forms.
The Battery, San Francisco
The Battery is a selective social club with around 5,000 members drawn from the San Francisco Bay Area. The club is said to have a long waitlist, but you can circumvent that by booking one of The Battery’s 14 guestrooms; you’ll be granted member benefits during your stay as guest. On the work-life balance meter, this club definitely tilts toward socializing. The library is always plugged in and online for the worker-bee, but elsewhere there are norms and rules that limit the use and visibility of technology. Given the high profile of many of its member, the social safety net consists of a strict no-social-media policy. So don’t expect any celebrity sighting to land on an Instagram feed. The secretive veneer has only stimulated the club’s buzz and the public’s curiosity.
The building has an industrial history (candy factory) but the atmosphere is now distinctly luxurious. The interiors are rich with dark wood, sleek surfaces and exposed brick walls that create a kind of California-cool vibe that is accessible and youthful. The club has ample spaces and functional areas that reflect its very full schedule. Private member events are frequent as is club programming that includes live music, lectures, screenings, shows and holiday celebrations, with the likes of Susan Sarandon, John Hammond and John Leguizamo as guests. There’s a European-style wine cellar and a 6,200-square-foot penthouse area for popular events. The Garden is an outdoor space that beckons.
There is more at play at The Battery than just being on-trend and ultra-cool. A real sense of community is fostered by its work-at-a-distance attitude and its encouragement of social engagement, manifested in the club’s conferences, retreats and philanthropic endeavors. For now, The Battery is a strictly a San Francisco phenomenon, with no plans to expand into new markets. Still, the blueprint is one drawn from the best private clubs: exclusiveness, premium facilities and an air of mystery.
WeWork is now We Company
An economist will likely tell you that the most basic choice people are faced with is how to allocate their scarce time between work and leisure (and perhaps we should throw in sleep as well). It is by means of our work that we make a living, but in our pursuits beyond the workplace—family, hobbies, recreation, service—that we try to make a meaningful life. Or so that story goes.
The private club industry has been founded on the basic premise that in order to better enjoy their leisure, many people will choose to buy a membership that essentially facilitates their lifestyle pursuits. Such pursuits often require the proper facilities, the right equipment and even expert guidance and support, but it is also frequently the case that these pursuits are enjoyed in community with others—family, friends, associates—with whom we have some common bond. Our membership value is realized in the enhancement of our pleasure.
As discussed in the Macro Perspective, We Company sells memberships, but with this twist: they are co-working memberships. In this context, we pay to enhance our work experience and the outcome of our efforts, but just how different is that, really?
Here is the experience of one observer who has frequented several different WeWork facilities:
I know what to expect when I enter a WeWork. There’s a youthful door attendant ready to greet me…. There’s beer, or water with fresh orange slices, or coffee—good coffee, not the Alterra java the Flavia machine spits out in my office. A list of weekly activities is posted in the elevator, and they reliably involve other WeWork companies trying to dress up their pitches in helpful seminars. People come and go, dropping their laptops nearby, and if you chill on a kitchen stool, an informal signal that you’re free for a chat, someone will usually come along and say hello.
Not the typical country club experience, but not altogether different, either.
You could say that We Company is in the real estate business or that they are selling business services or just renting space. But the proximity of We Company and the private club industry is revealed in this observation from the company’s co-founder, Adam Neumann, who explains, “What separates us [from these other businesses] is community.”
We Company is providing shared workplaces for technology startups and services for entrepreneurs, freelancers and small businesses. Increasingly, they are also designing and building physical spaces (even virtual shared spaces) and office services for larger enterprises. Members are buying a better experience—and all that comes with it: better productivity, personal development and a deeper connection with the wider world.
We Company knows this and will continue to collect data on their members, their patterns of their activities and their overall satisfaction—just as today’s modern clubs do.
AllBright, Los Angeles
Anna Jones, co-founder of the women’s club AllBright, explains their concept this way, “If Soho House and WeWork had an enlightened feminist baby, it would be us.”
Founded in London, but now scheduled to debut this spring on the L.A. scene, this club describes its purpose as that of “creating opportunities for women to thrive and flourish.” If The Battery aims to shed the co-working vibe and WeWork to embrace it, then Allbright splits that difference. A workplace that doesn’t feel like a workplace captures it nicely.
What Allbright knows is a lesson in the sociology of work, namely, that at the highest levels of business, work and personal lives merge seamlessly, but by no means obviously.
Allbright helps bolster high-powered women with its locations (urban centers, like London and L.A.), its network (other successful women: Allright’s name is a tip-of-the-hat to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who famously observed, “There is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women”) and its offering (a subtle mix of social polishing and executive coaching).
We see other women-focused organizations similar to Allbright appearing in many cities. Chief, which is describes as “a private network of powerful women,” has attracted generous funding and the attention of human resource departments of big companies (some willing to underwrite the cost of membership). Fast Company notes that Chief replicates “the old boys’ club” and suggesting that it’s modeled much like YPO (Young Presidents’ Club).
The Wing is yet another similar offering, perhaps best describes as a women’s co-working collective and club. It has a head start on many other similar ventures with locations on both the east and west coast and a membership of about 6,000.
Millennial Makeovers
For some time now, those invested in the future of the private club industry have speculated whether millennials would ever become “clubbable.” More to the point, would they choose to join a club and seek to enjoy at least some of the unique benefits of status and prestige?
The early successes of the Soho House suggested that with the right formula and proper targeting, some millennials would indeed embrace the club life. But other club formats have not yet received the market’s stamp of approval with either widespread imitation or scale. Until, maybe now.
Across the Atlantic, there is real evidence that the millennials are taking up club life—once a trickle—but now more like a surge. The report from London: “As of yet (at the outset of 2019), 20 or 30 [clubs] have probably opened since 2015.” And, adds Gary Witham, a hospitality expert operating there, “They’re all still going. Nothing’s gone bust.”
The clubs largely conform with notions about millennial values: they are seeking a holistic, integrated lifestyle; they’re committed to good health, which extends from food preferences to workout regimens; and they exhibit a communitarian bent that reflects their desire to have a beneficial social impact. They appreciate sophistication more than tradition and are breaking many of the barriers that once separated business and pleasure.
A few of the clubs that are gaining traction in this market:
- 3 St James Square, where an emphasis on health and wellness includes advanced technology such as 3D body scanners and DNA analysis.
- The Ministry, a club that might be thought of as a brand extension derived from the famous London nightclub Ministry of Sound. The club offerings tend to organize around art and music and its followers and creators.
- Conduit has carved a niche out of social change, seeking to attract social entrepreneurs and committed citizens who are working to solve world problems. Students, other young people and those in the nonprofit sectors receive discounted membership.
- The Women’s International Club of Paris—soon to open a London branch—reflects this organization’s efforts to advance the globalization of women’s issues.
So What’s Next?
In some ways the idea of a club has been an ever-evolving. In the U.S., it has at times been linked with a particular segment (men or civic leader), or activity (golf or yachting). However, in many ways the golf club has been eclipsed by the full-service, family-oriented club; and, the downtown city club has largely re-invented itself in more symbiotic way with the lifestyle diversity of urban centers.
So what’s next? The view of the future has very strong links to the past:
England swings. The United States identity has strong British roots and anglophilia runs deep in our society. This is especially true of the club world. Just as London’s Gentlemen’s Club sparked imitation and adaptation here in America, perhaps club innovations bode well for the club scene on the home front.
The business of America is business. The quote is from Calvin Coolidge and one suspects that President Trump would share the same sentiment. But in emphasizing the central role of business on the American scene, it would be a mistake to suggest that economic values or just downright avarice are crowding out other competing values. Instead, new forms of club life are suggesting that the integration of work and life may proceed in some exciting and personally rewarding ways.
Vive la différence. In some ways clubs have institutionalized the segregation of the sexes. This kind of segregation—along with other forms of segregation—has been roundly rejected, especially on grounds of human rights and fairness. But in the case of women’s clubs we sense that the principle of free association can also work as an accelerant for opportunity and achievement—not to mention good times and fun. The current club scene seems to be endorsing diversity without going down the path of standardization and sameness.
Club Trends Winter 2019