Concept2 has its roots in rowing. The company from Vermont (USA) is best known for the RowErg, one of the world's best-selling indoor rowers. The current product range also includes straps and sculls, as well as the BikeErg and SkiErg. We spoke to the head of the German subsidiary, Martin Stridde, about Concept2's ambitions and prospects in the fitness and health industry.
The Concept2 company looks back on an impressive history, what are the most important key data?
Martin Stridde: Concept2 is an American company founded in 1976 by brothers Peter and Dick Dreissigacker in the state of Vermont. Our company has its origins in rowing, and the Dreissigacker brothers are still avid rowers today.
They were the first to reinforce sculls and oars, which until then had only been made of wood, with carbon from aircraft construction. This made the oars lighter, stiffer and better performing.
A little later, in order to be able to train in winter, Peter and Dick also developed the resistance principle of the Concept2 Indoor Rower - with the help of a bicycle that they mounted upside down on a barn floor and into which they built resistors in the form of slats.
We've been around in Germany since the early 1980s, initially as an independent partner. In the meantime, we have become an official subsidiary.
How did you get involved in the fitness industry? When did you enter the German fitness and health industry?
It has developed slowly. We were present at the relevant trade fairs in the early 1980s and there was something of a hype about rowing. The sport was 'in'.
Competitive athletes trained on rowing ergometers in the winter, initially with hydraulic resistance on each oar. Many recreational athletes followed suit. The motto was: 'What the pros use can't be bad.
From this hype, impulses went into the fitness studios. The Concept2 indoor rower was initially a niche product for real rowing freaks, but over the years our equipment with its low-maintenance air resistance has become more and more established.
You also have a strong presence in performance-oriented fitness concepts, such as CrossFit® and HYROX. Why is that?
There are several reasons. One of them is that the devices are very comparable. The PM5 monitor measures performance accurately - regardless of settings, location or user:s. In addition, we have tried to keep our prices low over the past decades so that the devices are affordable for as many people as possible.
You don't have a sales force in Germany. That is unusual in the industry. Why did you decide on this form of sales organization and how do your customers benefit from it?
The customers benefit from the price and the quality. Row-Erg, Bike-Erg and SkiErg are so robust and simple that customers can carry out most repairs themselves.
We keep in touch by phone and support them, meet them at trade shows or events. But selling our fitness equipment directly through a sales force is not efficient enough for us.
However, we have external partner companies that provide technical service on request or repair the equipment on site at the customer's premises.
How has the Concept2 company come through the pandemic so far?
We have come through the pandemic very well because we also supply equipment to end users in the private market. And rowing has gained even more popularity because of the pandemic.
What are your plans for 2022? What can the industry look forward to?
Our rowing ergometers are well known, so we want to make our customers more aware of the SkiErg and BikeErg. In addition, we will also push the topic of 'ergathlon', a three-way competition on RowErg, BikeErg and SkiErg.
Other key items on our agenda are technology and connectivity. The PM5 console that our ergometers are equipped with works with our own apps, but also with 30 different external apps.
We will make this offering even more attractive to gyms, for example with larger screens that exercisers can dial into via an app to train together or compete against each other anywhere in the world.
Source: fitnessManagement
Image source:Yakov / AdobeStock
Published on: 8 February 2022