The Stretch Zone Effect
Stretch Zone claims to improve mobility and sleep, reduce pain, tension and discomfort and ease sciatic pain. “The uniqueness of the Stretch Zone method is the key,” said Tony Zaccario, President and CEO of Stretch Zone. “We started franchising in 2017 and it’s been an incredible ride. Right now we’re opening one store every week.”
The 420-Unit Stretch Zone Is Expanding With New Locations And Opening In 2026 One Store Every Week
By Sharon Edelson,
Senior Contributor.
Courtesy of Stretch Zone
Jordan Gold, the founder of Stretch Zone, created the patented Stretch Zone Stabilization System that’s used in the company’s studios when he was helping his grandfather who was bedridden with diabetes. Over the course of a year, Gold worked with his grandfather for an hour every day and watched him go from walking with a walker to walking with a cane to dancing at his niece’s wedding.
A leading practitioner-assisted stretching brand, Stretch Zone, operates more than 420 units, including the company’s first international storefronts in Canada.
With the longevity market – a broad market consisting of AI diagnostics, lifestyle products, nutrition solutions and developing treatments for anti-aging, among others – is poised to surge in 2026, to more than $600 billion, by some accounts.
Stretch Zone claims to improve mobility and sleep, reduce pain, tension and discomfort and ease sciatic pain. “The uniqueness of the Stretch Zone method is the key,” said Tony Zaccario, President and CEO of Stretch Zone. “We started franchising in 2017 and it’s been an incredible ride. Right now we’re opening one store every week.”
“We’ve always known anecdotally that we were changing lives at Stretch Zone from the abundance of feedback we’ve received from our members over the years,” said Zaccario. “Now, this new research proves just how powerful our approach is when it comes to improving overall health, from easing tension, discomfort and fatigue to improving recovery and range of motion. People feel better, move better and live better because of Stretch Zone, and now we have the data to prove it.”
“The Stretch Zone Effect,” the name of the study, which can be found at StretchZone.com/the-stretch-zone-effect or in the Journal of Musculoskeletal Disorders and Treatment. It’s based on the results of evaluating the experience of 32 adults through 30 days of Stretch Zone’s standardized practitioner-assisted stretching program. Following FTC standards for quantifying meaningful change and durability, the study looked at people who followed the Stretch Zone program one time versus two times a week and 30 minutes versus 60 minutes per session. The test period took place from March 31 to May 2, 2025 among participants who were new to the Stretch Zone method and were not doing any stretching outside of the study.
“Right now, the focus is to continue to provide quality service and change lives for the communities we are in,” Zaccario said. “The Stretch Zone is a simple business model. It’s a 1,000-square-foot box, there’s no moving inventory, no waste, no spoilers, no cogs that you have with a lot of other types of business. At the end of the day, we’re a people business, from franchisees to team members, and we’re a membership based model.”
“When you have such a simple business combined with such a low barrier to entry from a capital perspective, relative to other brick and mortar concepts, it doesn’t take a lot of money to get one up and running,” Zaccario said. “We have a lot of first-time business owners, who may be trying to get away from the corporate grind, have more autonomy and have an entrepreneurial spirit.”
“I didn’t know what franchising was when I joined the company,” Zaccario said. “The four locations we had at the time were as dysfunctional as any startup can be, but we were extremely successful. I think it’s a real testament to the Stretch Zone method. We’re able to target a wide range of people. The strapping system acts as an extra pair of hands. We can work with anyone from professional athletes to aging baby boomers who want to make their lives a little bit better and easier.”
Zaccario said a lot of employees have become franchisees. “We also have very sophisticated investors that own 20-plus locations because they’re able to grow very quickly. We have such a wide spectrum of franchisee profiles, but that’s what’s made Stretch Zone unique and has allowed us to grow so quickly.”
Earlier this month, Stretch Zone announced that former NFL quarterback Drew Brees is a Stretch Zone franchise owner. Zaccario said, “Drew got stretched and when he got off the table he said, ‘I want to be part of this.’ Jordan Gold was never actually seeking out an ambassador and philosophically probably was more opposed to ambassadors for business.
“Drew was so passionate about the service and the difference it made at the latter part of his career,” Zaccario said. “He not only wanted to be an ambassador, he wanted to sit on our board, which he did for a little while. He wanted to be a franchisee, so he was involved in every aspect of the brand and we ended up partnering up.”
“What makes a big difference in our business is our constant support for our franchisees,” Zaccario added. “We ask franchisees why they want to do this and they say it helped them personally and they want to help other people feel better. Our patented strapping system secures people to the table and allows them to relax. With their trainer stretching those relaxed muscles, it’s changing people’s lives. This is powerful. It’s the power of stretch as a whole.”