CorePower Yoga.

• Author: Cote, Mike
• Position: CONSUMER BUSINESS

WHILE THE TUGH ECONOMY HAS MADE it a less than ideal time to grow a business, CorePower Yoga has benefited from another 21st century phenomenon: the growing interest in fitness.

Since 2002, the Denver-based company has grown to 55 yoga studios in Colorado. California, Oregon, Minnesota and Illinois. CorePower plans to open 10 to 15 studios a year, aiming to grow to 100 within five years.

"I think it's largely due to a systemic change in values in our society," CEO and founder Trevor Tice says. "People put more value on health and wellness than they have in the past. There's just a heightened awareness."

CorePower employs 800 people and offers classes, teacher training, weight management and a line of retail products. The company generated S25 million in top-line revenue and netted S4.5 million last year. Tice says. CorePower is on track this year to generate nearly S40 million in business and bottom-line earnings of nearly S8 million, he says.

"I feel dumbfounded and blessed to be in the situation I am to be able to grow a business in this adverse economic environment," Tice says. "We've been exceptionally fortunate to thrive in this adverse economy."

Tice credits much of CorePowers growth to the culture the company has built around its specialized brand of yoga, which is taught by teachers trained by the company.

"We have a group of people who are unwaveringly committed to yoga and a healthy lifestyle, living an extraordinary life," Tice says. "A huge degree of our success is based on the community we have built. That's not only in the classroom. It's in the greater public and the world as a whole."

Through the CorePower...