Fitness Exchange Sells New and Used Workout Equipment

Since it moved from Emmaus to Salisbury Township, Fitness Exchange has added a new kind of drive to Lehigh Street’s Auto Mile.

Fitness Exchange is a store for those inspired to workout, or hoping to find inspiration, with a wide variety of new and used exercise equipment for home and commercial gyms.  Fitness Exchanges sells treadmills, ellipticals, exercise bikes, rowers, stair-climbers and weights. They offer top brands such as Cybex International, Life Fitness, Nautilus and Precor.

The busy store at 693 State Avenue (also known as Lehigh Street) attests to the growing popularity of home exercise equipment, a $3 billion a year industry in the United States. Manager Nik Lasso spends his days explaining the benefits of various brands to customers, comparing their different features. Prices range from high (more than $7,000 for a Life Fitness Platinum treadmill or Precor elliptical machine) to reasonable (less than $1,000 for a Spirit treadmill).

Cardio machines are the best sellers, he says: treadmills, ellipticals, then bikes (recumbent, upright and spinning), with a dozen of each on display for customers to try out.

“Running on this treadmill can be five times softer than running on grass,” Lasso explained to a customer with problem knees. “It’s better for you than running outside.”

The store also sells used equipment, and on a recent afternoon, Salisbury resident Megan McCarthy was shopping for a birthday present for her son, Brian.

“He turns 15 today, and we are looking for some kind of exercise equipment,” she said. “He’s the oldest of four boys, so we have to look at the big picture.”

McCarthy and her husband belong to a gym, “but it’s hard to get out of the house,” she said. That's when their treadmill comes in handy. After they looked around Fitness Exchange, McCarthy and her son, a freshman at Central Catholic High School in Allentown, chose a used universal gym for $699, instead of free weights and a bench. 

“I guess my sales pitch worked,” joked Lasso.

In addition to equipment from 80 fitness companies, the Fitness Exchange Web page (www.fitnessexchange.com) has links to all kinds of information: a fitness blog with exercise videos, articles and columns, plus a classified section for used equipment ads and contact info for personal trainers.  

The store also rents and services equipment, and sells to commercial operations. “A lot of corporations are putting in small gyms to help out their employees,” says Lasso. “It pays off in reduced health costs.”

Lasso sees an industry trend toward more computerization. Some treadmills and ellipticals are now equipped with USB ports so you can send data to your computer, a virtual trainer Web site or to your exercise buddies.

“The industry is going interactive,” says Lasso.

Fitness Exchange's owners bought Lehigh Fitness Products in Emmaus last year and moved into their current location (once occupied by A&A Auto Parts) in January. This is the business's second retail location; the first opened 10 years ago in Conshohocken, Montgomery County.

Fitness Exchange

693 State Avenue (Lehigh Street), Salisbury Township

Phone: 610-965-6597