What is Fitness Town?

Fitness Town, now with 8 retail locations to serve you, specializes in supplying the home and commercial markets with mid to high end fitness equipment and accessories. Our chain has grown from a single location in Burnaby to include South Vancouver, Kitsilano, Langley, Port Coquitlam, Surrey, North Vancouver and Edmonton, Alberta.

Fitness Town is also very proud to include an extremely successful commercial division that services the British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon, Saskatchewan and North West Territory markets.

Setting us apart from other specialty fitness equipment retailers is Fitness Town’s large showrooms allowing for an unparalleled selection of brand name equipment, accessories, supplements and educational materials on display at all times.

And rounding out the Fitness Town shopping experience is our unyielding customer service focus – a byproduct of our friendly, experienced and professional staff! We at Fitness Town appreciate the opportunity of assisting you with your health and fitness needs!

The FT Mission:

Our mission at Fitness Town is to inspire healthy lifestyles and provide expert advice to help people to utilize the ideal fitness equipment for their needs and goals. The team at Fitness Town is greatly concerned about the rising rates of childhood obesity in North America and is dedicated to educating people of all ages to live a healthy lifestyle and be physically fit.

By providing customer focused health and fitness expertise and guidance, we allow the customer to make an educated commitment to their ever changing health and fitness goals. We work hard to make sure we have the best range of equipment available to our customers and have equipment that suits all fitness levels and interests.

The FT founders:

James Newman, Chief Executive Officer

James founded Fitness Town in 2006 and remains CEO, heading up its eight retail stores and two commercial divisions. Previously, James ran several successful fitness-related businesses across Canada ranging from personal training executives to distributing home fitness equipment, running studios and coaching kids various sports. James has been at the top of the fitness equipment industry in Western Canada for several decades and matches his studio management and training expertise with being able to know what the latest must-have technologies are for both the home and business.

Athletics and fitness have been in James’ blood from an early age. He played basketball to a high level in both Australia and Canada and still maintains an active interest in the sport. With a degree in Physical Education, there are few activities James hasn’t taught or taken part in including wind surfing, tennis, canoeing, hiking and biking.

James’ goal is simple: to provide specialty fitness equipment to people who are committed to a healthy lifestyle and to inspire, educate and assist people to live active, happy lives.

Dai Manuel, Chief Operating Officer

Growing up as an obese teenager, I learned firsthand what it’s like to be “un-healthy”.  It’s not a place I enjoyed being and experiencing all the stigmas that come with being obese was traumatic.  At age 15 I made a decision to change my lifestyle.  And for 18 years, I haven’t looked back.  Fitness is, and always will be, a large part of my life.  My passion is to engage as many people as possible in living healthy, more active lifestyles.  With increasing obesity rates and a lack of focus and education on preventative medicine, our country is facing a health pandemic.  The solution starts with parents modeling a healthy active lifestyle for children to follow.  We all need to be inspired and held accountable to our fitness goals.  My commitment is to provide inspiration, education, equipment and training – specifically supporting families – so that childhood obesity is no longer an issue in our country.

As Chief Operating Officer and partner of Fitness Town Inc, I oversee the daily operations of 8 retail stores and 2 commercial divisions consisting of annual revenues exceeding $15 million.  Raised in Bowmanville, Ontario, I now live with my 2 children and loving wife, Christie, in Vancouver, B.C.  I am an active member of the board for Shelfspace (formally Retail BC), a provincial association of retailers and suppliers, where my input assists in the support of BC and Alberta retailers with the issues facing them today.  With my spare time, I’m an active member of the White Rock Early Edition Toastmasters organization and 2 other clubs, and when not honing my public speaking skills, spend time volunteering with various non-profit organizations.  As the editor of the Fitness Town Health & Wellness Blog and The Moose is Loose, I live out my passion for writing and sharing best health and fitness practices.

I’m always open to discussing health, fitness, nutrition and business, and can be reached at daimanuel@fitnesstown.ca; follow me on Twitter or connect with me on Facebook.