The Wing, a network of work and community spaces designed for women that raised over $100 million in venture funding, is closing.
Below is the email The Wing recently sent to members.
The Wing always saw itself as much more than a coworking space. They envisioned their firm as a lifestyle brand built to empower women in all phases of their lives.
The New York Times described The Wing's vision in their lengthy 2017 article The Wing, a Chic Women's Club, is Going Wide as:
"... a locus of a mediacentric feminist movement, like Ms. in the 1970s, or a mass-scaled temple of "exclusivity," like Soho House, if Soho House wrapped itself in a marketing banner of she-power."
The Wing had 11 locations in 2019, with six in New York City. But as their email says, they struggled during the Covid-19 pandemic and could not recover.
The coworking industry, in general, struggled during the pandemic. According to Fortune's As the office goes extinct, the WeWork era rises again, over 800 coworking spaces shut down over the past two years.
But as the article also points out, the coworking industry is experiencing a post-pandemic boom. Key quote:
"Old coworking spaces are back to life, and new ones are popping up. The advent of hybrid work and the slow return of business travel has left both middle and upper classes seeking a place where they can take meetings, focus, and find companionship: a coworking space."
The future is clearly bright for the coworking industry.
But unfortunately, the rising tide of remote work-driven coworking demand was too late to provide lift for The Wing.
And yes, we got a bit carried away with our flight metaphors.
