Fitness Equipment Sales Up In '10 In Consumer, Commercial Markets

Fitness equipment sales in both the consumer and institutional categories increased by at least 4% in ’10 compared to ’09, according to recently released data from the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. The consumer market (home-use equipment) totaled $3.3B in shipment sales for ’10, up 4.3%, while the institutional market (commercial use) grew by 5.5% to $1.02B. The gains were achieved after two straight years of combined decline, but remain nowhere near levels prior to ’07. Consumer spending increased the most on elliptical machines (+9%), treadmills (+7.5%) and stair climbers (+5%), while institutions saw increased spending on group exercise cycles (+11%), single-station selectorized equipment (+10%) and treadmills (+7.5%). Data was collected from January through February '11 through a total of 38,742 online interviews, which are meant to represent a total U.S. population of 283.7 million people (SGMA).