On March 9, Precor began laying off people at its Whitsett, North Carolina, production plant, which it is closing on Oct. 31, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice that Precor filed with North Carolina’s Commerce Department.
The closure of the 236,000-square-foot plant, which Precor opened in 2010 after closing a plant in Valencia, California, will affect 123 people, about 60 of whom were in general production or were assembly technicians. Much of the equipment built at the plant is the company’s commercial strength equipment.
A Precor spokesperson shared the following statement with Club Industry: “We can confirm that we eliminated a number of positions across Precor. These decisions are never easy, and we want to acknowledge the work and contributions of the colleagues who have been directly impacted. The goal of the changes we are making is to strengthen our operations, return Precor to growth and ensure we are delivering on the needs of our customers.”
Club Industry followed up with Precor to find out how its plant in Woodinville, Washington, will be impacted and whether layoffs occurred outside the Whitsett plant. The story will be updated if a response is received.
In early February, Peloton confirmed rumors that Peloton, which acquired Precor in 2021 for $420 million and initially had positioned it as part of Peloton Commercial, had planned to sell Precor. However, after not securing the desired price for Precor, Peloton decided to invest in the brand and operate it as a stand-alone subsidiary.
On Feb. 14, Peloton appointed Dustin Grosz as chief executive officer of Precor.
Grosz, who had served as interim CEO since Dec. 12, 2022, was asked to “return Precor to a position where it generates positive free cash flow,” according to Dion Camp Sanders, chief emerging business officer of Peloton.
With 30 years of experience in the fitness industry, Grosz previously served as president and COO of Core Health & Fitness where he led the restructuring of a $180 million business. From 2011 to 2019, Grosz also served as president and COO of Star Trac. Prior to that, he was president and CEO of StairMaster where he transformed an underperforming product line in the first year of management, according to Peloton. He also held several positions at Nautilus Inc.
In a letter to customers that Grosz sent out in February, he wrote: “I’m confident you are going to start seeing more efficiencies around our manufacturing and supply chain processes and a streamlining of how we do business with you.”