Bob Fluet and Rob Hynds founded the Boxers NYC chain in 2010, when they opened the brand's flagship venue in Chelsea, Manhattan. Throughout the 2010s, the business expanded within New York City, including into Hell's Kitchen and the Upper East Side, as well as into Center City, Philadelphia. In March 2018, the chain was approved for a 15-year lease on a new location in Washington Heights; it opened on September 14, 2018. At that time, Boxers WaHi was the only gay bar in that neighborhood, which had been without such a venue since 2014. Fluet and Hynds selected Washington Heights because the area was "increasingly popular among New York City's millennial and LGBTQ residents, [but it was not] yet known for businesses that service these groups".
