balancing AWS
84-89 PaddleEvent.FitBal
7/10/04
10:27 PM
Page 88
fitness
o
utdoor customers are children at heart, ready for the next adventure and, more often than not, curious— perhaps almost to a fault. Show them a new way to have fun, and it’s likely they’ll jump on board with both feet—providing it doesn’t cost too much and doesn’t take too much time to learn. Enter the humble balance board. Put one or two on your floor for customers to use—under supervision—and you’ll soon be selling fitness products (gasp) at full retail.
The Mountain Goat, a snow-and-trail-sports shop in Manchester, Vt., found out how much fun a balance board is when it placed one on the retail floor a couple years ago. The board attracted the adventurous and curious like a magnet, especially kids. Now, every kid who walks through the door grabs one. The staff gives them a spot to weave and wobble. And, as a result, several times a month a new Vew-Do balance board walks out the door tucked under the arm of a happy customer. “Do you make a living on them? No,” said Ron Houser, the store owner. “But they’re almost always moving, and you never need to put them on sale.” Retailers around the country are finding if they display a balance or wobble board, it sells itself. But that’s not to say the appeal of balance products is limited to those who live on skateboards or have a generous allowance from their parents. And they also aren’t limited to a round 88
»OUTDOOR »SUMMER 2004
t c a
BALANCE FOR ALL
Many of the leading balance products were created by athletes, especially winter athletes like skiers, to help other athletes improve their performance. But there are only so many elite athletes to market products to. So, the balancemeisters broadened their market to two main categories: Those who balance for fun, and
piece of material with a half-sphere in the middle of the bottom. Balance products come in many sizes and shapes, from inflatable rubber stability balls of various shapes and “Bosu” half-balls common in gyms, to wooden planks like the Bongo Board, Indo Board or one of the Vew-Do line, to any number of smaller wobble boards that offer anything from a slightly shifty experience to the
those who do so to rehabilitate from injury—or to avoid it in the first place.
» FUN: Not surprisingly, this group tends to be young. And, they’re the easiest sell. It’s pretty easy: Put a balance board or ball on the floor for play, and they sell themselves. The most prominent names in this category for
COUL D SOM ETHIN INFUS G AS E FUN SIMPL AND I E AS A NCRE BALA opporASE S NCE B A LES F tunity to fall ass over OARD O R YOU teakettle if your balance ain’t what R STO it should be. RE? outdoor So to keep from taking a header, instead, take an excursion each day on a balance device to improve strength and coordination. That’s the prescription for anyone—from kids to extreme athletes to boomers with bad knees and active seniors too. The unpredictable side-to-side, forward-back motion improves neuromuscular proprioception, or the awareness of the body in space and its ability to react and keep you upright, as well as flexibility and quick-reaction skills. The muscular benefits are felt most directly in the ankles and knees, but they translate all the way up the body to the “core” muscles of the buttocks, hips, lower back and abdomen. All of which come in handy on trail, water and snow, or, for that matter, while stepping off a wet curb with an armload of groceries. Did we also mention it’s just damn fun?
retailers are Fitter International, Vew-Do and Indo Board, which won the BrandNew award at Germany’s ispo trade show this year and signed a distribution agreement with Fitter. The best seller in this segment is the Bongo Board, a skateboard with a roller underneath and a band to hold the two together. The best thing about the Bongo Board, retailers pointed out, is that both kids and adults are pulled toward it, but for different reasons—the kids for adventure, while the adults for nostalgia. The Bongo Board first appeared in the United States in the 1960s, and parents’ familiarity with the Bongo makes it approachable. Parents also hope a balance board will introduce some action into their kids’ sedentary lives. “They have it in the rec room so when (the kids are) watching TV, they’re » W W W. G E A R T R E N D S . C O M
Photos Courtesy of Indo Board.
B Y D AV I D F E R R I S
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g n i c n a l a b
7/10/04
10:17 PM
not just sitting on the couch,” said Houser.
» REHABILITATION AND INJURY PREVENTION: Fitter is a Canadian company that leads the segment partly based on founder Louis Stack’s unrelenting and fervent preaching of the need for balance training. He has staked its future on ordinary folks wobbling their way to health, including outdoor-sports lovers who don’t move as easily as they used to. Asked who his target market is, Stack said simply, “People who are aging or are influenced by gravity.” OK, that applies to all of us. And that’s exactly what Stack means. For Fitter, that includes workplace applications, such as wobble boards to stand on during a phone call or a stability ball for use as an office chair. (We have several in the GearTrends® offices, though one adventurous co-publisher often ended up on his backside when forgetting his ball didn’t have wheels like a chair and wouldn’t push back from the desk like his chair used to.) Others are pursuing the group-exercise market, such as Reebok with its Core Board, and Vew-Do, which is developing a fitness line for release later this year, according to founder Brew Moscarello. Stability balls—those large inflatable rubber balls that are now a staple of gyms
»OUTDOOR »SUMMER 2004
Page 89
and fitness magazines—also sell well, but mostly in outdoor stores that have a specialized fitness area. Balance boards fit well into any store product mix, especially, retailers tell us, if a store is committed to its customers’ long-term health and mobility, which, of course, earns long-term customer loyalty. “We work with a lot of physical therapists, podiatrists, orthopods,” said Bruce Johnson, co-founder of Gazelle Sports, a running and soccer specialty store in Michigan that does a brisk business in Fitter wobble boards. “What we’ve seen in the past with the balance board is rehab from an injury in the foot or lower leg. Whether you’re an athlete or you’re trying to stay in condition, you need flexibility.”
PRODUCT PLACEMENT The obvious place to put a board is where your other boards are sold—that’s where your interest and application is, as well as the sense of adventure to try something new. “During the snowboard season, we had one or two in the snowboard department, and there was always a kid on them,” said Kyle Joos, sales manager of Sportsman & Ski Haus in Montana. Retailers reported that the less extreme
balance implements, such as wobble boards, sold better in the fitness sections of a store. The Natick Outdoor Store in Natick, Mass., carries its boards at the edge of the shoe department. The store has a fitness department but deployed balance products by shoes anyway, since that area is more regularly staffed and would have someone available if a customer stepped on a board and needed a spotter. “It’s a good match—obviously you’re going to be wearing sneakers when you use it,” said Manager Glen Case. None of the stores interviewed for this story have had any liability issues emerge. One simple way to avoid accidents: Make the product available only with staff assistance. Put the board out for handling but leave the less-steady roller board, for example, behind the counter. Or, to be on the safe side, secure all boards to a rack. » To download extra copies of this magazine or to give us feedback, go to GearTrends.com.
W W W. G E A R T R E N D S . C O M » 8 9
Photo Courtesy of Fitter.
84-89 PaddleEvent.FitBal
7/10/04
10:27 PM
Page 88
fitness
o
utdoor customers are children at heart, ready for the next adventure and, more often than not, curious— perhaps almost to a fault. Show them a new way to have fun, and it’s likely they’ll jump on board with both feet—providing it doesn’t cost too much and doesn’t take too much time to learn. Enter the humble balance board. Put one or two on your floor for customers to use—under supervision—and you’ll soon be selling fitness products (gasp) at full retail.
The Mountain Goat, a snow-and-trail-sports shop in Manchester, Vt., found out how much fun a balance board is when it placed one on the retail floor a couple years ago. The board attracted the adventurous and curious like a magnet, especially kids. Now, every kid who walks through the door grabs one. The staff gives them a spot to weave and wobble. And, as a result, several times a month a new Vew-Do balance board walks out the door tucked under the arm of a happy customer. “Do you make a living on them? No,” said Ron Houser, the store owner. “But they’re almost always moving, and you never need to put them on sale.” Retailers around the country are finding if they display a balance or wobble board, it sells itself. But that’s not to say the appeal of balance products is limited to those who live on skateboards or have a generous allowance from their parents. And they also aren’t limited to a round 88
»OUTDOOR »SUMMER 2004
t c a
BALANCE FOR ALL
Many of the leading balance products were created by athletes, especially winter athletes like skiers, to help other athletes improve their performance. But there are only so many elite athletes to market products to. So, the balancemeisters broadened their market to two main categories: Those who balance for fun, and
piece of material with a half-sphere in the middle of the bottom. Balance products come in many sizes and shapes, from inflatable rubber stability balls of various shapes and “Bosu” half-balls common in gyms, to wooden planks like the Bongo Board, Indo Board or one of the Vew-Do line, to any number of smaller wobble boards that offer anything from a slightly shifty experience to the
those who do so to rehabilitate from injury—or to avoid it in the first place.
» FUN: Not surprisingly, this group tends to be young. And, they’re the easiest sell. It’s pretty easy: Put a balance board or ball on the floor for play, and they sell themselves. The most prominent names in this category for
COUL D SOM ETHIN INFUS G AS E FUN SIMPL AND I E AS A NCRE BALA opporASE S NCE B A LES F tunity to fall ass over OARD O R YOU teakettle if your balance ain’t what R STO it should be. RE? outdoor So to keep from taking a header, instead, take an excursion each day on a balance device to improve strength and coordination. That’s the prescription for anyone—from kids to extreme athletes to boomers with bad knees and active seniors too. The unpredictable side-to-side, forward-back motion improves neuromuscular proprioception, or the awareness of the body in space and its ability to react and keep you upright, as well as flexibility and quick-reaction skills. The muscular benefits are felt most directly in the ankles and knees, but they translate all the way up the body to the “core” muscles of the buttocks, hips, lower back and abdomen. All of which come in handy on trail, water and snow, or, for that matter, while stepping off a wet curb with an armload of groceries. Did we also mention it’s just damn fun?
retailers are Fitter International, Vew-Do and Indo Board, which won the BrandNew award at Germany’s ispo trade show this year and signed a distribution agreement with Fitter. The best seller in this segment is the Bongo Board, a skateboard with a roller underneath and a band to hold the two together. The best thing about the Bongo Board, retailers pointed out, is that both kids and adults are pulled toward it, but for different reasons—the kids for adventure, while the adults for nostalgia. The Bongo Board first appeared in the United States in the 1960s, and parents’ familiarity with the Bongo makes it approachable. Parents also hope a balance board will introduce some action into their kids’ sedentary lives. “They have it in the rec room so when (the kids are) watching TV, they’re » W W W. G E A R T R E N D S . C O M
Photos Courtesy of Indo Board.
B Y D AV I D F E R R I S
»
»
g n i c n a l a b
7/10/04
10:17 PM
not just sitting on the couch,” said Houser.
» REHABILITATION AND INJURY PREVENTION: Fitter is a Canadian company that leads the segment partly based on founder Louis Stack’s unrelenting and fervent preaching of the need for balance training. He has staked its future on ordinary folks wobbling their way to health, including outdoor-sports lovers who don’t move as easily as they used to. Asked who his target market is, Stack said simply, “People who are aging or are influenced by gravity.” OK, that applies to all of us. And that’s exactly what Stack means. For Fitter, that includes workplace applications, such as wobble boards to stand on during a phone call or a stability ball for use as an office chair. (We have several in the GearTrends® offices, though one adventurous co-publisher often ended up on his backside when forgetting his ball didn’t have wheels like a chair and wouldn’t push back from the desk like his chair used to.) Others are pursuing the group-exercise market, such as Reebok with its Core Board, and Vew-Do, which is developing a fitness line for release later this year, according to founder Brew Moscarello. Stability balls—those large inflatable rubber balls that are now a staple of gyms
»OUTDOOR »SUMMER 2004
Page 89
and fitness magazines—also sell well, but mostly in outdoor stores that have a specialized fitness area. Balance boards fit well into any store product mix, especially, retailers tell us, if a store is committed to its customers’ long-term health and mobility, which, of course, earns long-term customer loyalty. “We work with a lot of physical therapists, podiatrists, orthopods,” said Bruce Johnson, co-founder of Gazelle Sports, a running and soccer specialty store in Michigan that does a brisk business in Fitter wobble boards. “What we’ve seen in the past with the balance board is rehab from an injury in the foot or lower leg. Whether you’re an athlete or you’re trying to stay in condition, you need flexibility.”
PRODUCT PLACEMENT The obvious place to put a board is where your other boards are sold—that’s where your interest and application is, as well as the sense of adventure to try something new. “During the snowboard season, we had one or two in the snowboard department, and there was always a kid on them,” said Kyle Joos, sales manager of Sportsman & Ski Haus in Montana. Retailers reported that the less extreme
balance implements, such as wobble boards, sold better in the fitness sections of a store. The Natick Outdoor Store in Natick, Mass., carries its boards at the edge of the shoe department. The store has a fitness department but deployed balance products by shoes anyway, since that area is more regularly staffed and would have someone available if a customer stepped on a board and needed a spotter. “It’s a good match—obviously you’re going to be wearing sneakers when you use it,” said Manager Glen Case. None of the stores interviewed for this story have had any liability issues emerge. One simple way to avoid accidents: Make the product available only with staff assistance. Put the board out for handling but leave the less-steady roller board, for example, behind the counter. Or, to be on the safe side, secure all boards to a rack. » To download extra copies of this magazine or to give us feedback, go to GearTrends.com.
W W W. G E A R T R E N D S . C O M » 8 9
Photo Courtesy of Fitter.
84-89 PaddleEvent.FitBal
