One year ago today, Equinox replaced its complimentary locker room toiletries.

In May 2024, the luxury fitness brand Equinox announced a significant expansion of its partnership with skin- and hair-care brand Grown Alchemist. Among other impacts, the expanded partnership resulted in a full replacement of the complimentary toiletries in Equinox gym locker rooms. Equinox had previously stocked locker rooms with toiletries by the brand Kiehl’s. Their bodywash, shampoo, hand lotion, and other products had been consistently available for Equinox gym users since 2009. The removal of Kiehl’s products in May 2024 was completed globally across Equinox locker rooms within a single day of the Grown Alchemist partnership announcement.

The day before the global restock, Equinox publicly teased the shift with a coy Instagram post. The copy—"Tomorrow everything changes.”—was accompanied by an obscured image of Grown Alchemist body cleanser. There was no other communication about the upcoming product switch, and existing Equinox customers did not receive any membership-based communications related to Kiehl’s or Grown Alchemist. As a result, on May 16, gym visitors were surprised by an abrupt adjustment to their skin- and hair-care routines. The replacement of familiar Kiehl’s products with new Grown Alchemist products was unwelcome by many customers, and they were quick to share their complaints online.

The global scale of the partnership was a first for both Equinox and Grown Alchemist. The partnership’s potential impact was perhaps even more significant given recent ownership changes for the two companies; Equinox had secured $1.8 billion to refinance several loans in March 2024, and Grown Alchemist left L’OCCITANE Group for private ownership in April 2024. Both companies were likely looking for big wins, financially and reputationally, to give their new investors confidence.

Despite the milestone nature of the partnership, media coverage of the May 2024 announcement largely focused on gym members’ social media backlash. An article in Business Insider from May 16 noted that “social media users are in an uproar over the switch”. On May 20, The Cut published a piece titled “Equinox and Kiehl’s Broke Up, and People are Losing It”. Three weeks after the announcement, outlets such as Newsweek and SELF were still reporting on the social media commentary, specifically gym users’ allergy concerns related to nut oils in Grown Alchemist products.

Many articles cited social media influencers, such as Jane Tsui and Blake Rayfield, who reacted negatively to the change in locker room products. Other customers would certainly have shared their own online commentary, both critical and supportive, regardless of influencer response. However, the highly visible reactions by these influencers may have facilitated a greater outpouring of negative commentary. Equinox’s Instagram posts from May 14, 15, and 16 exclusively focus on the Grown Alchemist partnership and the new locker room products; the vast majority of comments on these posts are negative. On Reddit, a Grown Alchemist-focused “mega thread” in the EquinoxGyms subreddit continues to see new comments that lament the change in locker room products.

The overwhelmingly negative customer feedback was probably a surprise for Equinox. Grown Alchemist is an established and trusted beauty brand, and its products had previously passed muster with Equinox customers. Equinox is best known for its upscale gyms, but the company also develops and operates luxury hotels. A collaboration between the two brands first manifested when Grown Alchemist’s products appeared in the Equinox Hotel New York in 2019. Since that time, Grown Alchemist products have been well received by hotel guests.

Members of traditional and influencer media had several narratives available when reporting on the newly expanded partnership between Equinox and Grown Alchemist. For example, the partnership is indicative of investment by both companies into spa treatments and services. Separately, Equinox’s 2009 arrangement with Kiehl’s included $10 million worth of products, and the new deal with Grown Alchemist is likely worth much more. If commentators wanted to specifically focus on the locker room products, they had the option to ask experts to note key differences between Kiehl’s and Grown Alchemist. Alternatively, synchronizing the replacement of products at 300 gyms around the world is a logistical tour de force and therefore presents an interesting operations-focused story.

Ultimately, I believe that the reaction on social media was simply too extensive to be ignored by members of the media. As a result, a major partnership announcement was overshadowed in the news by customer complaints.

In many ways, Equinox treated its introduction of Grown Alchemist to customers as a standalone product launch. Equinox worked hard to keep the partnership announcement under wraps, as evidenced by the lack of proactive influencer partnerships and member communications. Secrecy is a common tactic for generating buzz around a product launch and can foster heightened attention and media coverage on the day of an announcement. When such an announcement leads to enhanced value for customers, the resulting media coverage is often very positive. Equinox was excited about its growing partnership and eager to rollout Grown Alchemist’s high-quality products, which may have been their reasoning for using this communication strategy.

However, Equinox underestimated the importance of gym users’ emotional and informational needs, and the communication strategy failed to account for related customer behaviors. The milestone was not just a product launch; in addition to introducing Grown Alchemist, Equinox was imposing a change in the routines of gym users. Change can be difficult to accept with grace, perhaps especially in an intimate and highly personal arena like beauty and hygiene. Customers were not given time to prepare for the product swap nor were they provided with trusted influencer voices to guide them through the transition. As a result, customers may have instinctively resorted to resisting the change, regardless of any enhanced value provided by Equinox.

This resistance to the change was widespread and extensively vocalized on social media. Reporters paid attention, and Equinox unfortunately lost the opportunity to shape a positive narrative. With future announcements, it may be beneficial for Equinox to sacrifice some of the anticipated media buzz in exchange for better managing the expectations of their customers.