Push•Pedal•Pull Makes a Play for Minnesota

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Push•Pedal•Pull, an exercise equipment dealer from Sioux Falls, is going through a bit of a growth spurt. This year, the company added two Minnesota stores to its growing list of locations, which are spread from Oklahoma to the Dakotas.

Store Manager Zane Christensen moved up to Minnesota from Des Moines, IA where he'd been responsible for another Push•Pedal•Pull exercise emporium. His mission: To get the Burnsville location up and off to a running start. In March, the company was ready to open the store, a spot tucked in between Interstate 35 and .

So far, so good, Christensen said.

"This location has been phenomenal, even though our busy season has passed," Christensen said. "We see the highest demand in winter when people can't go outside and their New Year's resolutions are still fresh in their minds. The Burnsville store has exceeded all expectations."

The 25-year-old company has built a reputation as a one-stop source for home exercise equipment. Push•Pedal•Pull sells fitness club-caliber machines to consumers, but also offers delivery, serviceon their wares, and even individualized workout plans and in-store personal training. 

Christensen said the extras are what sets the company apart in the burgeoning home exercise market.

"You can buy a treadmill at Best Buy now," Christensen said. "But we know what we're talking about. We'll teach people how to use their machines safely."

Push•Pedal•Pull (or P3 for short) also offers some of the newest and most innovative workout equipment—like an outdoor elliptical and vibration trainers, a machine that causes involutary muscle contractions and can compress an hour-long workout into 15 to 20 minutes.

P3 is not the only company cashing in on the slowly recovering economy. According to the National Sporting Goods Association, the fitness industry has enjoyed a small boom as of late. After steady, year over year growth in the 2000s, the market for fitness equipment took at tumble when the economy tanked in 2008. After a 6.6 percent rebound from 2009 to 2010, it appears to be on an upward trajectory once more. In 2011, annual exercise equipment sales hit $40.9 billion, a healthy increase over the three previous years.

Christensen said that so far P3 is not slated any further growth in Minnesota, though the company will likely look into staking out some territory in the Northeastern portion of the Twin Cities, perhaps Woodbury.