We launched Physical Assets The Fitness Store in Toronto in 1984. It was an very different retail concept for it's time, moving away from the general sporting goods format of the department store to providing a shopping environment that specialized in exercise equipment only. At that time, my brother, John Tummon was the Canadian distributor for Monark exercise bikes and Precor fitness equipment. Stores specializing in fitness equipment were growing in the United States but weren’t situated in Canada yet. With my brother's encouragement and partnering with Susan Asquith we opened Toronto's first specialized Exercise Equipment Store at Davenport and Avenue Rd in Toronto in September of 1984.

Keeping healthy had become a lifestyle and fueled three decades of innovative designs that launched the hydraulic rowing machine, the recumbent bike, elliptical cross trainers, vibration machines and interactive equipment with virtual courses and consoles.

As exercising at home became more common place, people expected their hotels to provide a place to workout while travelling: condominiums started building exercise rooms into their plans fueling a secondary market of scaled down commercial gym equipment designed for smaller environments.

I led Physical Assets through all these changes in the retail fitness industry, weathering a couple of recessions and learning to compete with the developing Depot store format of the late 80's. Experience allowed me to respond quickly to new opportunities in commercial equipment sales, expanding into service and to be the first to introduce and support the latest in fitness equipment technology as it came into the Toronto marketplace.

 As the industry matured, so did our customers and I saw first hand the increased demand for equipment more suitably designed for the aging Baby Boomer, determined to stay fit but with specific needs that focused on hip and knee issues; proper fit, ease of use and space efficient design. Much of the new technology is perfectly geared to this population.

As the internet gradually changed how consumers shopped Physical Assets moved away from the brick and mortar format of selling in 2013 dramatically reducing our overhead and allowing us to have more direct contact with clients in their homes and businesses. You can contact us on line at info@physicalassets.com or 416 417 5166.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Johanne Tummon
Owner