Soho House owner plots restaurant expansion to New York, Doha
New York
THE owner of Soho House plans to open 12 new locations next year, including private clubs and restaurants, as the exclusive membership club recovers from the pandemic.
Revenue at Membership Collective Group rose 57 per cent to US$180 million in the third quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates. The company reported a net loss of US$76 million as it continued to invest in new venues. MCG went public in July.
Founder and chief executive officer Nick Jones said the loss can be attributed to new developments as well as "heavy IPO" costs. The company's goal is to be profitable over the next couple of years, he added.
The wait list to join the Membership Collective's network, which includes venues such as the Scorpios Beach Club in Mykonos, Greece, grew last quarter to 66,800, from 63,700 in the previous period.
In 2022, the group also plans to open 2 new restaurants called under the Ned name. The original location in the City of London is considered a "power dining" destination. One is planned in New York, at the site of the shuttered NoMad hotel, and another in Doha.
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With travel resuming, a Scorpios club in Tulum, Mexico, is also set to open next year.
The shares rose 3 per cent at 10.53 am in New York trading, bringing the decline since the July listing to about 11 per cent.
The first Soho House opened in London in 1995, with the aim to offer members a place to network and relax, as well as eat, drink and sleep. Initially, the group sought to lure members who worked in creative industries, but that rule has become less strict.
The group's private clubs, or houses, oftens serve as venues for after-parties for fashion brands. In April, guests who had attended the Bottega Veneta show partied at the Berlin house despite lockdowns.
The Membership Collective is also seeking to generate revenue with an interior decorating brand called Soho Home.
To recruit and retain employees, the group said it raised salaries, compensating for this higher expense with "gradually" increasing rates for food, beverages and rooms.
Nashville and Mexico City will get their own houses next year. A house in Brighton, the United Kingdom, will also open in the first quarter of 2022 after its opening date was delayed.
The first French house opened in September in a 19th-century Paris building that was once the home to the family of poet and artist Jean Cocteau. It came 11 years after the group first opened a house in Berlin.
"We didn't have the right location" in Paris for a while, Jones said. But, "I'm glad we waited, I'm glad we didn't rush into it".
The annual membership for the French house costs between 900 euros (S$1,385), for those under 27, and 2,200 euros, which buys a plan giving access to all the company's houses. BLOOMBERG
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