Fitness Merchandising Vendors

Finding the right Fitness Merchandising Vendors

Finding the right fitness merchandising vendors is imperative to supplying your members with high quality merchandise while retaining a decent profit margin for yourself.

First, decide what types of merchandise you will want to stock – in this “Merchandise & Profits” series we will cover equipment, apparel, food, pricing and more. Once you have a grasp on what you want to stock, you will need to find the best wholesalers for your needs. Be prepared to invest in merchandise early on, to get the best deal you will need to buy in bulk, and the larger quantity you purchase at once, the more profit you will bring home.

So how do you go about finding fitness merchandising vendors? The Internet is the best first place to start. Try to look local, this way you can save on costs like shipping if you are willing to trek out to get them yourself. This can really save you money on apparel products and you’d be surprised how many local vendors there are.

When you are working with a new f vendor, push to find out all the deals you can get on bulk purchases. Don’t be too shy to ask, the worst you will get is a “no” – and its free for you to at least ask! Anything you can save will help your bottom line! Don’t keep working with a vendor that is consistently rude to you, lets you down or refuses to work with you on resolving certain issues – even if you love their product. Think about looking around if this happens to you!

Journals
We would be lying if we didn’t think you should check out Journal MENU. If you are getting this email, however, you are likely already a loved client. So let’s think about ways we can make your journals sell faster!

• Include images of your athletes and coaches for your next order.
• Customize quotes on the front and back to blend with your gym better.
• Customize a Fundamentals journal for your first customers – getting them hooked on journaling from the beginning.
• Let us know if you have not received a book stand to show off your journals. We can ship one with your next order!

Fitness Merchanding Vendors – Apparel
Look online for local t-shirt printers. If you plan on screen printing your shirts you will see a variety of costs included in your order. The cost of the t-shirts/tank tops/sweatshirts/shorts, the cost of creating the screens and the cost per color (a secondary screen cost).

Keeping the number of colors screened to a minimum will help keep your overall cost down, as printers often charge both by color AND number of screens made (and if you want the same screen in a different color, expect an extra charge). The cost of the clothing item will depend on quantity as well as the quality.

Many gyms today choose to go with American Apparel Tri Blend or Gildan shirts and tanks – and there is often a premium put on American Apparel items, but there are similar shirts from brands like Next Level which are indistinguisable in feel while being much cheaper. Another factor that can increase the cost is the color of the shirt. Printers will often charge extra for darker colors. Last, the amount of pre-press work that needs to be done can affect the cost, so try and get all your artwork completed before going to a vendor.

If you can’t stay local for the print job, check out some of the vendors below (in no particular order, and we do not necessarily endorse any of these companies):

Although, again, staying local could really help you out, not only on shipping costs, but by creating a relationship you might be able to push for better deals, or get them to consider different types/colors of shirts as part of the same order – giving you a better bulk discount.

Fitness Merchanding Vendors – Equipment
First you will have to decide what types of fitness equipment you will want to stock, but there are a couple of go to fitness merchandising vendors that you can check out while you wait on our equipment part of this series! I would suggest thinking about stocking mobility equipment such as bands, foam/PVC rollers and lacrosse balls as well as user specific equipment, like jump ropes and wrist bands

That is just a beginning for our “Merchandise & Profits” series, next time we will go more in depth on stocking equipment and the vendors you should be checking out!