BeaverFit Gives Boutiques the Tools to Compete with Anyone
Partnership
Sponsored By BeaverFit
BeaverFit helps boutiques stand tall even against big box gyms and their abundance of resources
Even with more and more consumers finding their way into trendy, boutique studios rather than warehouse-sized buildings glistening with household names, big-box gyms still carry the upper hand when it comes to the fitness industry. From the jump, they wield the real estate, reach and resources most boutiques strive to one day attain.
Be that as it may, this handicap doesn’t leave boutiques at a total, irreversible disadvantage. As long as brands establish a creative approach to space and training solutions with help from BeaverFit, a leading fitness equipment design, manufacturing and distribution company, they can come out on top, no matter how steep the climb is.
“Our focus is really on listening to the needs and challenges from our customers, and working with them, to provide them with unique or bespoke solutions that bridge those gaps,” said Nick Vay, BeaverFit VP of Commercial Sales. “Whether it be functionality, design/aesthetic, space efficiency, or all the above, our goal isn’t to sell you something off the shelf, but rather help build something that didn’t exist before.”
Use What You Pay For
Real estate might be one of the most common purchases fitness operators will make and not get a full return on their investment with — and it’s often entirely their fault. While some gyms identify free space on a gym floor as its own amenity, those areas are often still underused and fail to foster concrete engagement and retention.
Working with BeaverFit, MADabolic took things in another direction, creating custom bay units that save studios 500 to 750 square feet for additional activities. Doing so allowed MADabolic to use its gym floor area to the max without congesting the space or compromising the member experience.
Establishing advantages like this is crucial to success in today’s day and age with real estate, labor, expertise, goods and materials all rising in cost, MADabolic argues.
“Operational capacity has never been more critical,” said Brandon Cullen, Co-Founder and Chief Concept Officer at MADabolic. “This is why partners like BeaverFit are invaluable. Their entire mission is to deliver customized solutions that address the cost-per-square-foot equation.”
Storage and Transitions
While utilizing versatile and efficient machines represents a solid place to start when it comes to optimizing space, that’s only half the battle. What to do with your equipment when it’s not in use matters equally, if not more.
It’s rare to have a member clock into a gym, use one piece of equipment and then go on their merry way. More often than not, they bounce around, transitioning from one activity to another. Making that process seamless and smooth goes a long way in terms of member satisfaction.
“It all has an impact on the overall member experience and how well your workout will be perceived,” said Matt Wright, Chief Growth Officer at EYS of the little things during workout transitions.
EYS set out to accomplish this with BeaverFit by crafting their own custom bay units that allowed swift boxing bag replacements or removals. Working with heavy bags once required a tiresome set-up process where users needed to hang bags up or take them down before partaking in different training segments. So, BeaverFit built a sliding trawler arm into the center of the station, allowing bags to slide in and out of place as easily as a coat on a rack.
Doing so opened the floodgates for more exercise opportunities, time and variation with minimal effort.
“In the boutique fitness space, intentionality and flexibility are everything,” said Vay. “So by creating solutions that make it improve these, while simultaneously improving efficiency, members can transition between exercises without leaving their space, and the studios can continue to evolve their programming to meet the needs of their members. This makes it easier for members, the trainers who are leading these classes, and ultimately, the studios, who continue to focus on maximizing the member experience.”
BeaverFit also lent a helping hand to Spenga as it launched a smaller footprint design by 1,000 square feet. Spenga, whose workouts combine spin, strength and yoga, found itself in a tough spot after its former manufacturer stopped producing the version of its “strength pod” used widely across its studios. BeaverFit saved the day by crafting a series of new strength pods which include a variety of new solutions such as side hooks, which pull accessories out of the way when not in use to save space.
“Spenga came to us with some pretty specific, but unique challenges,” said Vay. “At the time, nothing like that existed in the market, so we were able to sit down with their leadership team and develop exactly what they needed, rather than try to sell something off the shelf.”
“Our collaboration with the BeaverFit team enabled us to customize efficient strength storage solutions that enhanced this transformation,” said Roger McGreal, Co-Founder, Spenga. “The smaller footprint presents significant cost savings while maintaining the incredible workout experience our members have come to love.”
Think Differently
At the core of all these initiatives lies a willingness to think outside the box. Cookie-cutter solutions will at best keep you afloat, whereas customization and tailor-made products will keep you paddling forward. The latter is necessary to survive for any boutique charting out into the fitness industry’s unpredictable waters.
No matter the business or its goal, BeaverFit prides itself on its ability to work closely with clients to understand their ambitions and consequently bring them within reach.
“That’s the big difference for us: we build differently,” said CJ Kostranchuk, Director of Key Accounts at BeaverFit. “No other company is able to sit down with a customer, listen to their needs, and potentially start from scratch to create something. And I think that’s really where this industry is heading – toward being able to do things differently.”