Since then, the Richmond Hill, Queens-based Gym Tech has offered sales and service of commercial gym and fitness equipment to gyms and health clubs. However, after March 2020, business ground to a halt because of the pandemic and the state lockdowns that shut down gyms and fitness centers.
“Everything was dead, dead, dead,” Strazzeri said.
But it also triggered Strazzeri’s lightbulb moment that saw an opportunity born out of necessity.
“The idea came naturally,” he said. “If gyms were closed, people would be working out at home, so I made the pivot to retail sales.”
Strazzeri was offered a good deal on a 1,200-square-foot space in the Woodbury Plaza shopping center on Jericho Turnpike, where he now sells a wide variety of high-end treadmills, ellipticals, exercise bikes and functional trainers ranging in price from $2,000 to $15,000.
“Business took off immediately, as soon as we opened,” Strazzeri says.
Gym Tech, Long Island’s only authorized retailer for Precor, according to Strazzeri, also carries brands such as Octane, True Fitness and Body Craft.
Starzzeri sees the home workout trend continuing and he is planning to open a second Gym Tech retail store in Southampton in March.
“Even though gyms are open again, a lot of my clients are hesitant to go back and would rather have a home gym,” he said.
