Sportcraft and the Treadmills They Shouldn't be Making

If Uncle Scrooge were to buy a treadmill, he would probably go for Sportcraft. Sportcraft's business mentality is cheap, in more ways than one.

You see their treadmills being sold at Wal-Mart, department stores and other mass distribution outlets at prices that say they hint of their inferior quality. Their prices are so cheap that with the features these treadmills are offering, they cannot be made of strong and durable materials. They have reportedly even had problems with electronics. One treadmill was reported to have had gone up to maximum speed all by itself. Now that is a problem you wouldn't want to have in a machine that you run on.

Sport Craft packages itself as an alternative to Icon, another cheaper brand name on the market, and suppliers tried them out, only to be bombarded by problems and defects of the treadmills in use. Now, why is there a problem with Sportcraft treadmills? Let's take a look at the company that made them, Sportcraft Ltd.

Sportcraft Ltd. is a respected maker of game tables and other sporting goods such as Badminton sets, Darts and Shuffleboard. Yes, the same company that imports the machines you expect to last for a lifetime sells those Badminton sets that include the racket, shuttlecock and nets that you normally give out as presents to your young nieces in Christmas. Founded by Walter Holdstein in June of 1926, Sportcraft Ltd. has its consumer base in easily accessible, general sporting goods outlets like department stores, retailers, hardware stores and sport stores. Their major selling strategy: being inexpensive.

With Badminton kits, we have no problem if they break while in play. But when your Grandfather is running a Sportcraft treadmill at minimum pace, say 5 miles per hour and the machine breaks, then hikes up the speed setting to the maximum 10 miles per hour, you have yourself a very serious potential lawsuit. Their treadmills are imported and not manufactured by them, so they really aren't there when the machines are manufactured, so they have no assurance of the quality. Also, their lack of experience and knowledge about treadmills leave questions to be asked and risks left on blind spots. The marketing tactics of distributing cheap treadmills just won't work without sound basics. Of course, the cheaper the machine is, in these extremes of scrimping, the worse the machine will either perform or last. Sportcraft is far behind Icon, their main competitor, who, by the way, produces Reebok's home line of treadmills.

On a machine like a treadmill, you expect safety, durability and quality. It is indubitable that purchasing one is a big financial step, so a treadmill should never be treated like a ping pong racket when it comes to safety. You don't get on a ping pong paddle, but a treadmill is expected to carry the whole of your body weight.

Sportcraft treadmills are one of those products that having a low price is actually a deterrent. A marketing gamble that takes the wrong ideas and partners them with even worse technical knowledge. Basically, they should stick to what they are the best at: providing game packages that have families playing a healthy game of badminton or a competitive round of darts during a get together weekend barbecue.

Related Articles