Popsugar Launches Home Fitness Line With Target

Media company Popsugar is rolling out a line of home fitness gear, including yoga mats, weights and other basic gym equipment, as part of a collaboration with Target that kicks off this month, according to Wednesday (Dec. 1) press release.  

Popsugar’s home fitness gear, which is inspired by the media company’s Class FitSugar exercise video series, will sell exclusively in Target stores and on Target.com. Many of the most popular workouts have more than 25 million YouTube views. 

Popsugar previously offered a business casual clothing line at Kohl’s, a Disney Princess home collection at Target and a gender-neutral clothing line at Old Navy. The company’s latest retail partnership is aimed at reaching new audiences and connecting commerce and content, co-founder Lisa Sugar told Modern Retail. 

“[Class FitSugar] just celebrated its 10-year anniversary, and it’s one of our most popular franchises in video,” she said. Popsugar also offers celebrity Pop Quizzes, a mental health How 2 Deal series and Celebrity Real Talk videos. 

“We base a lot of our licensing extensions on our data — what our audience wants and what they’re coming to us for — and much of [that interest] is various workouts, ways to get healthy and ways to move your body,” said Sugar. Popsugar is the most-viewed fitness publisher on social media, according to research firm Platform Analytics. 

Popsugar’s fitness launch at Target in December is aimed at capturing people’s attention before they make their fitness-focused New Year’s resolutions.  

“For the 15 years we’ve been doing this, this really is the time frame that people are most interested in … setting some fitness goals,” said Sugar.

Related: Netflix Embraces Contextual Commerce With Fashion Items Tied to Content 

Of course, Popsugar isn’t the only company mixing content and commerce. Netflix recently launched a clothing line related to “Emily in Paris” ahead of the second season’s debut Dec. 22. Several luxury brands will offer selections related to pieces worn by star Lily Collins and other characters, including apparel from AZ Factory, various Chanel-owned brands and My Beachy Side and jewels by Roberto Coin.  

Netflix’s eCommerce shop debuted in June with merchandise from “Stranger Things,” “The Witcher” and other hits from the streaming platform along with branded Netflix apparel. The shop now also features limited-edition boxes of cereal related to “Stranger Things” and products from “Squid Game.”