Tonal Nordstrom Deal for Fitness Device Trial Finalized

Thanks to a Tonal Nordstrom deal, you will now be able to try out the “Peloton for strength training” at the stores of the luxury department store chain across the country.

Tonal Systems Inc. announced that 40 Nordstroms will house a Tonal in their women’s active wear departments.

Customers will be able to use the device, which resembles a wall mirror with a pair of handles for an overhead presses, when not in use, “through a 50-square-foot concept where visitors can experience a full Tonal demo and try a workout firsthand,” according to a press release announcing the Tonal Nordstrom deal.

The device, costing $2,995, plus $49 a month for a subscription to its video content channel, is still available only by direct order.

The Nordstrom Tonal rollouts start this month at flagship stores of the luxury apparel chain in Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Dallas.

The Tonal offers internet-enabled workouts with presses and resistance bands through a connected interface.

Tonal Systems is a private company, so exact sales figures are not released, but there is every indication that it is one of the plethora of high-tech home workout solutions whose popularity has soared during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Founded in 2015, the company said that its sales have surged 800 percent from December 2019 to December 2020. Investors have pegged it as a winner; the company raised $110,000 in a funding round ending in September of 2020, bringing its total private equity investment to $200,000. And Tonal has experienced the surest hallmark of a quarantine-era hot product: Buyers have waited weeks for delivery as the company struggles to scale production to demand. The Tonal Nordstrom deal, therefore, doesn’t come as a surprise.

The press release announcing the Tonal Nordstrom deal claimed Tonal has more than 90 percent of the market for “connected strength training,” but that is a very niche market. Perhaps its most direct competitor is the Lululemon Mirror, a $1,500 wall-mounted portal to fitness video content that also benefits from a place in brick-and-mortar retail via Lululemon’s shops in high-income areas.

Tonal’s physical presence consists of 20 or so storefronts and kiosks scattered across the U.S., but the Nordstrom deal will triple that and bring the device for tryout to 12 states where Tonal has not yet had a physical location.

The Tonal Nordstrom deal is one sign that the device that relied on market change and industry hype are looking for foot-traffic retail to make a comeback and be part of their long-term, post-COVID-19 plan.