1. Can you tell me a little about yourself and your brand?
The whole idea was to bring quality equipment in Canada and save Canadians the ridiculous shipping fees of international orders. We're two brothers; Vincent & Martin Roy, we love training and a couple years ago discovered and fall in love with Crossfit method. So when we wanted to train at home our parents gave us the shed for a home gym. Shopping around for a squat rack, everything was too expensive (mostly because of the USD, shipping & custom) so we opted to build it. My brother (Vincent) has a background in mechanical engineering and welding so we've designed a simple squat rack for our home gym, roughly painted and everything. Probably a week after that, a friend of our parents (Luc Marotte, now our partner in the company) was looking for a squat rack and asked us to build it and we did. After that a gym owner contacted us and asked for a rig, then a sled, and the demand just never stopped growing so we started a company and bought some tools and stuff.
2. What was the “spark” or start of your company?
We just knew we could build something as good or even better then competition for the same price or even sometime cheaper but saving our clients the shipping and customs was enough to convince them to buy local! We are building every home or commercial gym as if it was ours, I think that gives a more human touch to the fitness equipment industry. Plus, almost nothing was made IN canada, obviously there was a lot of Chinese products on the market and the quality was not at all what we wanted for our clients: poor quality and construction equals poor longevity, less movements possibilities and less options. Today, 80% of what we do is Canadian made in our facility in Chambly (South sore of montreal) guaranteeing not only the quality but also functionality, design and most of all, accessible customer service!
3. Where did the idea for your brand come from?
We were inspired by big companies in the USA and wanted a badass name and logo to compete with them so we were searching for big fierce animals. The gorilla was our first idea but we knew there was a few Gorilla Gym and stuff and didn't want people to get confused. After weeks of research we thought "let's just remove one "L" from there for trademark issues and move on with Gorila Fitness", so we did!
4. What is the goal, or main priorities, of the brand and company (outside of financial)?
The ultimate goal is certainly to be known for our quality and become a reference in Canada for Strongman, weightlifting, crossfit & training equipment in general! That's precisely why our client's satisfaction is our top priority and I know it sounds cheesy but it's true. Anything our clients are not happy with, we're not happy with. That's how we've been thinking since day one and I think that's part of our success. Finding the perfect products that would meet all the special needs of our customers!
5. How do customers/athletes, and their opinions, influence or impact your brand?
A LOT! We're always asking around for reviews and ideas! We try a lot of them and most of our new products comes from client's suggestions or athlete's tips. It's a never ending process and we know we can count on our clients honesty to improve our quality of service and products. Everybody's needs are different and the goal is to find the product that will fit most perfectly. That's precisely where the "custom" part of what we do is coming handy, being able to customize pretty much anything to client's specs is a huge plus for us!
6. Where do you see your brand in one year and in five years?
In one year we would like to improve our client base in western Canadian market & military market and give our customers more variety. We are also working on improving our website & social media platforms! Now in five years we'd like to be the reference in Canada, we know that's still probably a bit short term but I believe in our team's capacity to do it and I believe in the quality of what we do.
7. What is the impact of social media on your brand and business?
I think social media plays a big role in pretty much every business today and we're no exception. We were a bit struggling at first but still were getting a lot of orders through our facebook page. Now that we have a social media team, the goal is to give our followers creative and interesting content every day.
8. How does your brand innovative and rise about many of the others in the industry?
The "Made in Canada" tag is a big deal for us. We take huge pride in that and I know it's very important to our customers, knowing they can buy a canadian product at about the same price as an imported product.
Now equipment wise, the big difference is in the quality and durability without a doubt. We won't settle for products that won't last a lifetime, that's especially why we've established a satisfaction guarantee. We use the best materials available and make sure the fabrication is done perfectly from start to finish. We're also always asking ourselves how to improve a certan product. For example, how could we make a flat bench into a ghd for home gym purpose (might be coming soon, might not ;) )
That said, the branding is also a big part of our difference I think, the logo is freaking badass and people love it.
9. What is a priority for you, as an individual and as a brand, moving forward in fitness?
Having fun! Whether it's in training, at work or in life. Almost all the marketing in fitness is about being fit and badass and we want to change that, we do not want to take ourselves seriously.
10. If you wanted people to know one thing about the clothing (art, fit, durability, etc). What would it be?
We had a hard time finding the right blend for our shirts and tank tops because we wanted people to wear the shirt while training and going out with friends. Very proud of the blend, seriously super light and comfy plus the colors are awesome.
11. As a Canadian brand, what do you feel is the most important piece of information to leave with your community?
I want people to start doing more things in Canada. Over the years, we've learned that although it can be a bit more expensive at first, it's totally worth it. Shorter production & shipping time, a lot more control on quality and design, faster customer service, much easier to deal with the suppliers and clients love it!
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