Skift Take
As Soho House considers plans to go public, there's a lot of competition on the horizon at every turn. This, plus the inevitable struggle to balance aggressive growth versus exclusivity, and a less-than-stellar customer experience, presents some problems on the horizon.
The Soho House built its brand and re-energized the private club model more than two decades ago on the notion of exclusivity.
But today Soho House feels a lot less exclusive, as competitors line up and Soho House's challenges grow. That hasn't stopped the company from pursuing a development tear, with new locations spanning from Dumbo in New York, to Istanbul, to Mumbai and beyond, while it eyes a possible IPO.
The irony, of course, is not lost on market observers that a chain of clubs created as private sanctuaries would now be public, as in an open book for shareholders.
Nick Jones started the brand in 1995 as a hyper-focused members club in Soho in London, catering to a well-connected, drink-loving media class. It stood in stark contrast to Britain’s notion of a members club: instead of leather club chairs, grey hairs and legacies, this felt fresh, design-centric and new.
As the brand expanded, so too did the stories of waiting lists miles long, and selectively peppered anecdotes about how some famous person barely made it in by the
