THE NEW YORK TIMES BUSINESSWEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020 N B5your exercise routine? Gymguyz,
a personal training company
based in Plainview, N.Y., offers so-
cially distanced one-on-one work-
outs in customers’ homes or back-
yards for $70 to $100.
If swimming is your thing,
Swimply allows you to rent a pri-
vate pool in someone’s backyard
for $45 to $60 an hour, either for
solo lap swimming or group par-
ties.
Need retail therapy? Bergdorf
Goodman is offering socially dis-
tanced in-store appointments, as
well as same-day delivery to Man-
hattan and the Hamptons for on-
line orders.
These offerings are an exten-
sion of a trend that predates the
virus, an invisible velvet rope ris-
ing between the wealthiest Ameri-
cans and everyone else on air-
planes, on cruise ships, even in the
health care system. They allow
wealthy customers to skip to the
front of lines and avoid crowds,
hassle and wasted time.
But in a Covid-19 world, crowds
and lines are more than just incon-
veniences — they are threats to
health and, in some cases, to sur-
vival. Thus, the pandemic has giv-
en wealthy customers an even
stronger incentive to take advan-
tage of luxury services that physi-
cally separate them from the
masses.
“The idea that we’re all in this
pandemic together is in some
ways right,” said Eric Klinenberg,
a sociologist at New York Univer-
sity. “But it quickly gets under-
mined when it becomes clear that
millions feel trapped and a select
few have their own private yacht
or luxury jet as an escape hatch.”
Demand for MySpa2Go’s serv-
ices quadrupled after the pan-
demic hit, and the company has a
wait list of 10 to 15 people on any
given day, its owner, Lori Traub,
said.
“People have been calling and
begging for services, telling us
that they would pay any amount of
money to have services done,” she
said. “They were literally saying:
‘Charge me double. Charge me
triple. I’ll pay anything to get
service.’ ”
Ms. Traub said the company
had not raised prices significantly
during the pandemic. MySpa2Go
requires all staff members to wear
protective gear, including masks
and gloves, while performing
services and to use disposable
tools as much as possible.
Blade, a private helicopter and
jet company, has seen an uptick in
customers for its flights, like one
that goes from New York to the
Hamptons for $795. Elite Adven-
ture Tours, based in Los Angeles,
is getting more requests for yacht
rentals for socially distanced sum-
mertime excursions, costing
$15,000 a day.
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort,
set on 2,000 acres in the Allegheny
Mountains of Pennsylvania, is of-
fering a socially distanced retreat
experience. For as much as $900 a
night, guests get a butler who
plans private leisure activities, in-
cluding watching movies solo at
the resort’s theater or enjoying
private use of its tennis courts,
museums or shops.
High-end businesses are also
selling one of the most sought-af-
ter commodities in the pandemic
era: child care.
The Beverly Hills agency West-
side Nannies has received an
overwhelming number of re-
quests for people with experience
as summer camp counselors to
watch children, the better to plan
one-on-one camplike activities,
said Katie Provinziano, the agen-
cy’s managing director.
“Parents are really feeling like
they want their kids to have some
sense of normalcy and a little bit of
that traditional summer experi-
ence within the confines of the
pandemic,” she said.
Victoria O’Flahavan of West
Hollywood, Calif., hired a nanny
through the agency to look after
her 3-year-old son while she tends
to her newborn daughter. The
nanny, who charges $28 an hour,
orchestrates summertime activi-
ties like planting tomatoes in the
garden and setting up a lemonade
stand.
“I like that he has something to
look forward to, because it’s been
so long since he had interaction
with other kids, which just breaksmy heart,” Ms. O’Flahavan said.
Westside Nannies said it had
also seen a 300 percent increase in
requests from parents wanting to
hire full-time in-home “private ed-
ucators,” who typically charge
about $50 an hour.
Parents are also finding ways
for their children to continue pur-
suing athletic ambitions. In Hop-
kins, Minn., 43 Hoops BasketballAcademy offers private training
for $75 to $90 an hour. Koa Sports,
in Bethesda, Md., provides so-
cially distant summer camp expe-
riences to small groups of chil-
dren, as long as one participating
family volunteers its backyard for
the fun. Elite Method, in Engle-
wood, N.J., provides “concierge-
style” one-on-one sports coaching
and mentoring to children in theirown backyard for $250 for a 90-
minute session.
“The people that can afford this,
the people that can pay private ed-
ucators $50 an hour to come in and
teach their kids, or hire a camp
counselor to create summer camp
for their children, are really the
upper echelon of society,” Ms.
Provinziano said.
She worries it will further ex-
acerbate the divide between rich
and poor. Children who have no
choice but to go back to school, or
to continue with Zoom classes, are
at risk of falling ill, falling behind
or both. Some teachers, fearful of
returning to classrooms before
the pandemic is over, may elect to
become private educators for
wealthy families instead, draining
the school system of much-
needed skilled teachers, Ms. Prov-
inziano said.
Children who found a love for
basketball or football on school
teams or during neighborhood
pickup games will have to put
their passion for the game on hold
until the pandemic recedes. When
college athletic scouts resume
their recruiting, the teenagers
who were able to benefit from pri-
vate coaching during the pan-
demic may have an advantage.
“You do have a lot of choices
that are open to you if you have
the money to afford them,” Ms.
Provinziano said. “And most peo-
ple don’t.”Getting Through It All, Some More Lavishly Than Others
AMR ALFIKY/THE NEW YORK TIMESClockwise from top: Private
backyard pools, like this one in
Woodmere, N.Y., can be booked for
$45 to $60 an hour through
Swimply. Elite Method’s
“concierge-style” coaching costs
$250 for a 90-minute at-home
session. MySpa2Go offers a
deluxe manicure-pedicure for
$125. Dragana Milanovic, a
MySpa2Go aesthetician, heading
to her next appointment.NATALIE KEYSSAR FOR THE NEW YORK TIMESAMR ALFIKY/THE NEW YORK TIMESNATALIE KEYSSAR FOR THE NEW YORK TIMESAn extension of
a divide that existed
long before Covid.
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