Our NordicTrack review gives company details, NordicTrack history, and info on NordicTrack treadmills, bikes, skier, and more. Read our NordicTrack review to learn more about the NordicTrack fitness equipment.

Founded in 1975 by Edward Pauls in Chaska, Minnesota, NordicTrack quickly became known for it’s trademark skier, which mimicked the movement of cross country skiing.  Pauls had designed ski boots and bindings for years; his daughter was a competitive cross-country skier and he wanted to design a machine that would allow her and other competitive skiers to train year-round.  Pauls was able to duplicate the unique properties of cross country skiing using his patented flywheel and one-way clutch mechanism.  Through a novel idea and hard work, the NordicTrack was born. 

Word of Pauls’ indoor trainer quickly spread through the cross-country skiing community.  Pauls soon moved the operation from his garage to a small warehouse where he hired help to build the machines and take phone orders.  Initial advertisements were placed only in skiing publications, but it soon became apparent that he machine also appealed to non-skiers looking for a low-impact indoor aerobic workout.  The company then began to advertise in high-end general interest publications, using the tag-line “The World’s Best Aerobic Exerciser.”  All the while, Pauls kept the operation a family business.  Pauls wife was the business manager and her frugal business sense helped take the company to where it is today.

Despite still being a small family run company, NordicTrack quickly became a big competitor in the fitness equipment industry.  By the mid-1980s, NordicTrack was still located in Chaska and employed 200 people in it’s sales and manufacturing operations.  Annual sales had risen to $15 million by that time.  In spite of this success, Pauls felt that the company could continue to grow if it came under the care of a larger company.  When CML Group, Inc. offered Pauls $24 million for NordicTrack, he accepted.  Their offer included a five year employment contract the left Pauls as chairman and his wife as senior vice-president.

While the NordicTrack brand was successful selling it’s cross-country skier, CML had plans to diversify the products offered and expand distribution.  The company introduced the NordicPower, a strength trainer, and the Executive Power Chair, which cost $1,200 and allowed a busy executive to do upper body weight training between meetings using arms that folded out of the chair.  In addition to these new products, the company expanded it’s media presence through network and cable TV commercials and infomercials.  NordicTrack also opened it’s first retail outlet in a mall outside of Washington, DC.

NordicTrack continued to introduce new products through the early 1990s, such as the NordicFlex, a strength trainer, and the Aerobic Cross Trainer.  The new products and advertising campaigns continued to be successful for the company, which saw increases in sales and profits during the early 90s.  Growth in direct sales began to slow, however, and NordicTrack switched focus to retail outlets, opening 18 by the end of 1992.  Two “Healthy Kitchen” and “Healthy Express” stores were also opened, which offered kitchen appliances and healthy food products. 

Although all of this expansion would suggest a healthy company, CML was, in fact, in trouble.  Profit margins had shrunk in the face of skyrocketing operating costs.  NordicTrack also missed out on a huge opportunity in 1995, when it failed to enter the “rider” (stationary bike and upper-body exerciser combination) market.  The direct response advertising campaigns were also falling flat, resulting in falling sales for the first time in the brand’s history. 

A quick response from CML helped turn things around for NordicTrack in the late 1990s.  New products, such as the Ellipse aerobic exercisers, were introduced and marketed directly to aging baby boomers looking for low impact fitness equipment.  The company also expanded its distribution, securing an agreement with Sears to carry its products in stores in the United States and Canada. 

In spite of these efforts, NordicTrack sales have not completely recovered and today the company is still in a struggle to stay ahead of rivals through new, highly rated products and competitive pricing.  However, NordicTrack continues to be a leader in fitness technology and their product line now includes treadmills, ellipticals, incline exercisers, bikes, strength trainers, skiers, and steppers.  Many of NordicTrack’s machines now come with iFIT programmable workout cards and some come with music and coaching from a personal trainer.  NordicTrack has also recently partnered with personal trainer Jillian Michaels from the television show The Biggest Loser.  Jillian and show contestants endorse NordicTrack products and also provide workouts and success stories.

NordicTrack products can be purchased online, over the telephone, or in retail outlets.
Address:
104 Peavey Road
Chaska, Minnesota
U.S.A.

Telephone: (612) 368-2500
Fax: (612) 368-5590