East of Eden
We’re Abby and Naomi, and we created East of Eden as a Walthamstow based yoga and Pilates studio, mixing a friendly, local feel with excellent teaching. We’re now seeking funding to expand what we do.
In March 2015, we launched our 25-mat space in a cobbled mews a few minutes walk from Walthamstow Central station and the new 9-screen Empire cinema. E17 is an area experiencing change and, as one of few yoga studio in the area at a time when we believe wellness is very much a topic of the moment, we’re confident we’ll continue to grow and succeed.
This funding will help us expand our offering – phase 1 would include a dedicated reformer Pilates studio and a 40 mat Pilates and yoga studio with changing rooms/showers. In the future, we would like to add a hot yoga studio, cafe, creche and art space and open more studios outside of Walthamstow and London. We also have a unique and innovative idea around music and yoga which would take the brand outside of the borough and possibly even the UK.
We think yoga and Pilates can benefit everyone from new mums to busy City workers. Our timetable caters for all, from beginners to experts, those who prefer silence and those who love our self curated playlists and DJ mixes. We believe we are the first to market in E17, and we’ve seen great success in only a few months, with booked-out classes and truly positive feedback. Walthamstow is a hub and we believe we can continue to grow by attracting people into the borough with the best teachers, events and workshops.
East of Eden is a community studio with a heart, and we want to spread our love of yoga and Pilates. We’ve enjoyed raising money for Nepal with donation-only classes and running free open-air sessions at Walthamstow Garden Party.
Our first 25-mat studio opened in March 2015 and, in the first month, we sold 25 x 6 month memberships, 32 x 10 class packs and 35 x 5 class packs, 153 x pre bookable drop-ins and 60 x cash drop-ins (£13,302 turnover).
In the first 4 months, we generated £37,650 in revenue against £26,241 in costs.
We have 800 names on our email database, 1300 followers on twitter and over 820 likes on facebook.
We have had press coverage in the Evening Standard, Waltham Forest News, in Stella Creasy’s Working for Walthamstow Newsletter, in Yoga Magazine, Glotime.tv and The London Economist.
Since then, we’ve agreed terms on the second studio (a beautiful, light filled, double height studio next door) and we have a supportive landlord. We have achieved planning on Studio 1 and we believe that as we have precedent now, we will be successful in achieving planning approval for Studio 2. The application is currently in with Waltham Forest planning department.
1. Fitting out Studio 2 to create a large yoga studio for 40 mats, building changing rooms and showers, a reception area and office space.
2. Purchasing 8 Allegro reformer machines and supporting equipment for the dedicated Pilates studio which will occupy Studio 1 once we open Studio 2.
3. Supporting development of the yoga/music idea and additional ancillary revenue streams.