Ab machines make retail sit up and take notice - abdominal exercise machines Life Portal BR

Ab machines make retail sit up and take notice - abdominal exercise machines

NATIONWIDE DSN REPORT -- With one-third of Americans overweight, it's little wonder that manufacturers have developed a fitness phenomenon designed to whittle down all those pot bellies.

Just as last year was the year of the rider machine, '96 has shaped up to be the year of the ab, or abdominal, exercise machine.

Propelled by TV infomercials, sales will shoot to $400 million, one vendor projects, from $145 million last year. Consumers bought 2.5 million ab machines in '95 at prices ranging from $30 to $180, according to estimates from Nordic Track, which jumped into the ab business this year with its AbWorks, about $120.

AbWorks joins what has quickly become a crowded field: Ab Roller Plus, Ab Sculptor, Abs of Steel, Abflex, EZ-Krunch, Ab Isolator, Ab Shaper, Body by Jake Ab & Back Plus and Perfect Abs.

"There are so many, I've lost track," said Jay Hanover, vp, hard lines merchandising for The Sports Authority, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Two that Hanover keeps track of, however, are the best-selling ab machines at The Sports Authority, Ab Roller Plus, distributed by Direct to Retail at about $90, and Ab Sculptor, made by Kent & Spiegel, Culver City, Calif., about $80.(Continue Reading)

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