NordicTrack
 |
|
| Private | |
| Genre | Exercise equipment |
| Founded | 1975 |
| Founder | Edward Pauls |
| Headquarters | Logan, Utah, United States |
|
Area served
|
Global |
| Owner | Icon Health & Fitness |
| Website | www |
NordicTrack is a manufacturer of exercise equipment, best known for its classic Nordic ski machine and incline trainers.
NordicTrack was founded by Edward and Florence Pauls in 1975, when Ed invented the original NordicTrack ski machine in his garage in Chaska, Minnesota, in an effort to train for the local VJC cross-country ski race. Ed was an engineer, usually got home after dark, and was motivated to beat his Swedish friend in the race. At the time, Ed and Flo were making the Flip Ski (a crutch ski used by leg-handicapped downhill skiers) as a part-time mail order business in their basement. Several of their first machines were branded "Nordic Jock", as their original market was anticipated to be college ski racers. A cardiologist contacted the Pauls and told them that this machine was the best cardio exerciser he had ever seen. The product's name was changed to NordicTrack.
The company was moved to the Jonathan industrial park in Chaska, where it first rented and later built a number of buildings for manufacturing, mail and phone sales, and warehousing. The sales concept was mail-order.
Ads were placed in high-end intellectual magazines, including Smithsonian, National Geographic, The New Yorker, and The Wall Street Journal. The ads were different in that they were mostly script explaining the benefits of cardiovascular exercise, and usually a small picture of the machine being used. In 1975 exercise was not "in" yet. A large amount of effort was needed to sell the machines, through explaining why the customer needed one, and how one's life could be longer and better with regular exercise. So much writing was done in these ads that it became the largest single promotion of the sport of cross-country skiing itself, and actually had a great deal to do with cross-country's popularity to this day.
The company was built and operated on the cash-and carry basis, and no money was ever borrowed during the Pauls ownership from 1975 to 1986.
In the new era of out-sourcing manufacturing (the 1980s), the Pauls family, having a mechanical background, chose to manufacture the machines in-house. From the start, machines were built one at a time on special benches. The company later moved to an assembly line that could put out several thousand units a day. From the start, the woodworking, varnishing, welding, machining, sewing, assembly, packaging, advertising, mailing and sales were all done in-house, mostly by local Chaska residents who were trained by NordicTrack for their specific jobs. As sales grew, more specialized automated procedures were brought in. A UV-varnish conveyor line, full powder coat paint line, robotic welders, two level assembly lines, and a full printing operation and bulk mailing facility were added.
...
Wikipedia