What equipment should you carry? Where can you source it?
Deciding what merchandising equipment to carry will require specific tailoring to your gym. Some gyms might sell jump ropes and sweat bands like they are going out of style while another might find no demand for them. Feel out your members, start by purchasing a small quantity to see how they sell, and then go into bulk purchasing.
Below are some merchandising equipment-based items we think you can sell to your members and some places where you can find them, but make sure to do your due diligence, as you might find a better deal than we do!
We should also point out, we are doing some of the price checking and ground work for you, we have in no way purchased these products from any of these vendors – and thus can not vouch for quality or customer service experience. Pricing may also vary from what is listed.
Tape
There are two types of tape you can stock that your athletes will likely want to purchase, the first is rolls of plain athletic tape (also known as medical tape), the second is kinesio tape. Below are some vendors along with associated costs for you to quickly compare.
Athletic Tape
- Collins Sports Medicine – $1.05 starting for generic bulk tape
- Trainer’s Room – $1.87-3.00 per roll and you can choose from a huge array of brands including a bevy of colors to match your gyms colors
- Johnson & Johnson – $2.06 per roll, plain white
- Sports Unlimited Inc – $1.60-$4.00 per roll depending on bulk qunatity and size. These guys also have color options available
Kinesio Tape
- KMS LLC – Individual rolls from $11, bulk boxes from $60 ($5 per roll) with 4 color options
- KT Tape – $13 per roll, but rolls are pre-cut and they have neon colors.
- Thera Tape – Price varies, they have individual rolls, large rolls over 100 feet long, precut packages and even “starter kits”
Foam rollers
These are a great thing to stock for your members. Mobility is something that should be done often, not just five minutes before class during a mjor gossip session!
- Power Systems – $12 for a 12 inch high density foam roller
- Foam America – You can buy bulk quantities here, getting the price to about $18 for a 3 foot long high density roller when you buy 12
- Again Faster – $16 for a 12 inch roller, $25 for a 3 foot long roller
PVC rollers
This is a great product for people that can’t get into their muscles with high density foam rollers, and even better, these are incredibly cheap! I was not able to find any of these on the internet, but just jot on down to your local Home Depot, Lowes or other hardware store and ask for some thick PVC piping (you will want about 6 inches in diameter).
This is usually sold in 12 foot pieces, and they can cut it there for you. Last I checked, in our area, you could get these for about $2 per foot long piece.
Lacrosse balls
These are great pain inducers. Lacrosse balls are perfect for selling, not only are they small to store on your end, but they can easily be stored in an athletes bag to be toted around with them all day (or better yet, they would buy multiple for home, work and anywhere else they like to play).
- Sport Stop – $1.25 per ball when you purchase 120, white
- Lacrosse Balls – Starting at $2.10 each and going down for larger orders, this is your best bet if you don’t want to buy a ton, and want to choose from a ton of great colors! (although shipping might kill you on smaller orders)
- Again Faster – $3 per ball, black – the price comes down to $2.75 when you buy a pack of 20
- Rogue Fitness – $3 per ball, orange – the price drops to $2.95 when you buy 10
Stretching bands
Perfect for you athletes that need a little extra mobility homework, plus they come in lots of colors to brighten up your sales display! There are different types of stretching bands, so make sure to find one that your athletes like before purchasing a huge amount.
- Power systems – $4.75 and up
- Thera Bands – Bulk rolls that you can cut yourself start around $85 and make up to 50 bands (just under $2/band)
- Balls n Bands – Also bulk rolls in similar pricing to Thera bands, but with more color (and thus elasticity) options
- Rogue Fitness – starting at $6.50, these bands are similar to pull up assistance bands
Mobility extras
At Journal MENU we preach the importance of mobility, be it through our mobility related journal pages or our daily essay series on Facebook. I gave you a ton of vendors for typical mobility products, but there are also smaller products that didnt make the list, so here is a conglomeration of some of them.
- Again Faster – a variety of trigger point products and rumble rollers
- Rogue Fitness – mobility packs that include rumble rollers
- TP Performance – Trigger point products
- Sunshine Yoga – wholesale yoga mats (from $8.30 each) and yoga blocks (strating from $3.98)
Jump rope
If you are sick of having so many jump ropes strewn about the gym, or athletes complaining that none of them fit their height properly, consider stocking some jump ropes.
- X Training Equipment – from $7.49 each with a bulk order with color options for the handles
- Buy Jump Ropes – from $8.25 each
- VTrust Co – from $5.58 per piece and you can add your logo on it, downside, its a Chineese distributor, but should accept Paypal
Gymnastic Grips
These are gredat for athletes putting in high volume bar and ring work, or for beginners who fear tearing their hands.
- Again Faster – $21.95 per pair
- Rogue Fitness – $21.95 per pair
- DGS – $19.95 per pair
Wrist Wraps
For athletes lifting heavy.
Rogue Fitness – From $12 per pair
Gym Rat – From $20, contact for bulk purchases
Thats all we have for now, hopefully this will help you stock your store with some useful equipment for your members, without taking out toomuch time from what matters most – coaching! Next week we will look at stocking apparel!