In 1998 a fitness company in Logan agreed to pay $9.5 million for key NordicTrack patents and trademarks, out of a bankruptcy. Four years earlier the brand had brought in $455 million in a single year. The buyer was ICON Health & Fitness. Now called iFIT, it still owns NordicTrack and runs it from Logan. Most NordicTrack machines are not built in Utah. iFIT's 2021 filing with the SEC said the substantial majority of its manufacturing was outsourced to Asia, with some done in Smithfield, Utah.
Quick answers
Who owns NordicTrack?
iFIT Inc., based in Logan, Utah, and formerly called ICON Health & Fitness.
Where are NordicTrack treadmills made?
Mostly in Asia by contract manufacturers, according to iFIT's 2021 SEC filing. iFIT also manufactures in Smithfield, Utah, but hasn't said which products are built there.
Is ProForm owned by NordicTrack?
No. Both are owned by iFIT.
Where is NordicTrack's headquarters?
Logan, Utah, at iFIT's offices.
Who owns NordicTrack
iFIT Inc., a company based at 1500 South 1000 West in Logan that Wikipedia lists as private. Its 2021 filing lists NordicTrack alongside its other brands, ProForm, Freemotion, Weider and Sweat. ProForm is a sister brand under the same owner, not a NordicTrack subsidiary.
iFIT tried to go public in 2021. It filed to raise about $600 million and then postponed the offering that October, citing market conditions, Renaissance Capital7 reported. In March 2022 Sporting Goods Intelligence reported that iFIT had raised $355 million in capital from L Catterton, a consumer-focused investment firm.
The owner's roots go back to 1977. Scott Watterson and Gary Stevenson founded Weslo that year and acquired ProForm in 1987. When those businesses were sold to Bain Capital in 1994, they were renamed ICON Health & Fitness, according to iFIT's filing. The name changed to iFIT in August 2021.
Where are NordicTrack treadmills made
Mostly in Asia, by outside manufacturers. iFIT's 2021 filing is the clearest answer we found on the record. "The substantial majority of our manufacturing is outsourced to Asia," it said, and "we also manufacture domestically in Smithfield, Utah." It said its fitness equipment was finished in facilities in seven countries, and that most of its top suppliers were in China.
The filing also said iFIT has a significant concentration with one contract manufacturer. It doesn't say which products come out of Smithfield, so we can't tell you whether your treadmill did. For that reason NordicTrack carries a Run from Utah tag in the directory, not Made in Utah.
Is NordicTrack a Utah company
It is run from Utah, but it started in Minnesota. NordicTrack was founded in Chaska, Minnesota, in 1975 by Ed Pauls, an engineer. He got the idea while running on icy streets to train for a cross-country ski race, and he began building the machines in his garage with $10,000 of his own savings. His wife, Florence, became the business manager. CML Group offered $24 million for the company, and the sale closed in 1986.
Under CML, sales reached $455 million in 1994. Then the business turned. NordicTrack filed for bankruptcy on November 5, 1998. The Deseret News reported that December that ICON would soon sign a $9.5 million deal for its key patents and trademarks. The brand has been a Logan brand ever since.
What happened after the IPO was shelved
Harder years. The Herald Journal reported more layoffs at iFIT in 2022, along with a settlement nearing on a $300 million lawsuit over the company's debts. The company's 2021 filing said its live content was generated entirely from its Logan headquarters.
The machines changed long before the money did. In 2009 NordicTrack introduced the incline trainer, a treadmill that tilts up to a 40 percent grade. The first NordicTrack came from a man training for a ski race. The incline trainer is for people who would rather not go outside to find a hill.
The brand in this answer
