The good news is that Fitness Lifestyles is by the Jersey Shore, which means that in summer, it’s prime real estate for a high-end patio store.
The bad news is that Fitness Lifestyles is by the Jersey Shore, which means that in winter, lounging on the beach is difficult, if not impossible.
The solution, as it turns out, was to capitalize on customers’ desires to look good on the beach by working out during the winter, so Fitness Lifestyles decided to sell weight machines alongside their chaise lounges.
Liz Clark, who handles marketing for the family-owned outdoor retailer in Neptune, New Jersey, says that offering both exercise equipment and patio furniture is a win-win year-round for the retailer.
“We wanted to keep the same clients, and we had to sell them nice products to keep them,” says Clark. “Fitness comes in fall and winter, and spring and summer is when we have our outdoor furniture season.”
Liz Clark
She says that the biggest challenge coming up in 2025 will be making it all happen, from the sale to the delivery.
“We have to deliver to the customers how important the in-person experience is,” she says. “You can’t get sales experience by getting something from Wayfair. You may be spending half the money in an online purchase but what are you doing if you can’t sit on the furniture first. You have to be able to touch it and understand it as retailers — competing with the internet — but communicating how important the sales experience is and how important it is to talk with an expert.”
Clark points out that the store sets itself apart by being a family business with excellent customer service that combines experienced employees with an eclectic mix of inventory.
Clark says her biggest challenge is customers who want to drive down prices based on what they have seen online. She says it’s frustrating to sell the goods to a customer, only to have the person leave and come back with a lower online price.
“It is always going to be the nature of the beast with sales,” she says. “You really want to make it feel as though both sides have won, but haggling down from a random website price, it doesn’t feel that way.”
To compete with online, Clark says she points out the benefit of sales made face-to-face, an interaction that makes it possible for the customer to feel the furniture, sit on it and understand it.
Clark says that her store has withstood a slowdown and she doesn’t predict another coming up.
“A lot of people were buying during Covid, and we feel that the past two years that it’s been slower. Sometimes, to overcome it, we have to promote floor model sales. It’s just putting in the work, I guess.
To get the word out about the store, Clark relies on Instagram ads, with a scattering of advertising in local shelter publications.
And to choose which manufacturers to carry, Clark says that she concentrates on one word: loyalty.
“We go to furniture shows and we see what the new product is,” she says. “We don’t try to do a lot of brands — we have a few good brands. And sometimes, we will pick something out of a catalog and put it on my floor.”
Clark acknowledges that a good many full-line stores are jumping into outdoor, but she points out that trying to do too many things can mean that something gets lost.
“This is a whole different market, and when you are dealing with too much product, it’s hard to focus what you are good at,” she says. “When we talk about materials, it’s about how long it will last; it’s a lot more functional than indoor furniture. How well it will wear is not part of the decision making for indoor. It’s based on comfort inside and style, and that is a huge aspect for outdoor but weather sturdiness is huge. It’s a whole different beast. I do hope they know what they are talking about.”
Any advice for struggling retailers?
“Don’t get too comfortable,” she says. “Make a change to the outside of the building, or take on a new line. Take a risk. It’s good to push inventory out. Put it on sale. Stay on your game. Don’t get too comfortable and make changes.”
