ICON And ProForm Treadmills
In 1977, Scott Watterson and Gary Stevenson, both business majors at Utah State University, founded Weslo, Inc. to finance their college education. The two started the company importing kitchenware, tableware, and marble products from the Far East. In 1979, Weslo Inc. responded to the nation's energy conservation movement and acquired the rights to a freestanding wood-burning stove. The company began marketing the stoves under the trade name of Fire King, Inc. The company's entry into the health and fitness industry began with the manufacturing of trampolines.
ProForm Fitness Products, Inc.
In the early 1980s they expanded their product line to include Proform treadmills, exercise bikes, rowing machines, and home gyms under the name Pro form Fitness Products, Inc. As the company's exercise equipment business grew, the partners decided to spin off their wood burning stove business to focus on the fitness equipment industry.
Weider Health & Fitness
In 1988, Weider Health & Fitness acquired ProForm treadmills and Weslo. The 50 year old company was, at the time, a large manufacturer of sport nutrition products, and the nation's largest publisher of health, fitness, and lifestyle magazines.
In July of 1990, ProForm and Weslo moved into a new 300,000 square foot international headquarters. The facility houses state-of-the-art manufacturing and includes nearly all aspects of the company's operations, from research and development, assembly, customer service, and marketing.
ICON Health & Fitness
In 1994 Weider Health & Fitness sold the assets of ProForm Fitness Products, Inc. and Weslo, Inc. and Weider Care to a group led by Bain Capital, Inc. of Boston. The new name became ICON Health & Fitness, Inc.
HealthRider, a leading marketer of riders was purchased in 1996. This acquisition provided another strong name to the ICON family, and allowed the company to expand its sales through its own chain of retail stores located across the country.
ProForm Treadmill To NordicTrack
In 1999, ICON acquired the NordicTrack brand and developed it into the premium line of home fitness equipment. ICON has expanded into the commercial fitness market with the acquisition of FreeMotion Fitness, Inc. The new division was launched in 2001 and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
ProForm - The Worlds #1 Fitness Brand
Today ProForm treadmills has ten different types of computer driven treadmills to choose from, all of which can be found on the internet at ProForm.com, "The World's #1 Fitness Brand."
How about a ProForm treadmill with a 20" flat screen HD TV, theater quality sound system, and iPod compatibility, right in your own home, to work out on every day? In addition you can track your progress and retrieve your own personal stats, for up to two users, allowing you to generate daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly fitness reports.
