This archive report was first published on 9 June 2020.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, fitness enthusiasts in New York City were forced to reimagine their workouts. With gyms closed, people turned to home-based exercise routines, snapping up benches, resistance bands, dumbbells, and kettlebells.
On March 2020, when the stay-at-home order was announced, Meron Tamrat, a 32-year-old Harlem resident, quickly purchased a dumbbell and kettlebell. However, just a few weeks later, she found herself unable to get her hands on more equipment, as everything was 'just gone.'
Ed Pryst, the chief sales officer of Gym Source, a New Jersey-based workout equipment retailer with several offices in New York, described the situation as 'pandemonium.' He noted that in recent weeks, when he visited closed Gym Source locations in New York preparing for reopening, he encountered passers-by tapping on the storefront glass, asking about kettlebells.
According to a study by Yelp, interest in fitness equipment had risen by 500 percent in the United States since March 2020. However, as quarantine restrictions begin to lift, the demand for equipment may ebb.
Thomas Lucchetti, owner of Cumberland Foundry in Rhode Island, which has been one of the few American foundries able to step in and make kettlebells, questioned the sustainability of the current demand, saying 'There's a demand for it now, but how long is that going to last?'
