For Kevin R. Featherstone, owner of Summit Fitness, the spark to go into business for himself could have come from an instructor at Brigham Young University.
And, because Featherstone had an extensive background in track and field events, what is more logical than to start a fitness equipment business that now has expanded to a store at 6831 S. State and his newest store at 2120 S. 700 East?After Featherstone graduated from BYU in December 1983 he started working for Equitech Property Management in Oakland, Calif., and was transferred to Chicago. He remained there for one year and returned to Salt Lake City to do some some budget and analysis work for a property management company and also worked for his father, Steve.
During the time he was working, he remembered the statement of his instructor about working for yourself, and he opened a bank account in the name of International Distributors of America, which was designed to be an import and export business. That was the real beginning of Summit Fitness.
In the fall of 1984 he went to a sports equipment trade show in Munich, Germany. He returned with a pile of literature, which he showed to family and friends in his attempt to gain support for starting a business.
He went to another sports equipment trade show in Anaheim, Calif., where he met the owner of company manufacturing upright exercise bikes. The owner decided to let Featherstone take one of his bikes to start selling them in Utah.
While still working full time, Featherstone and his brother took turns on their lunch hours demonstrating the machine for clients. Featherstone recalls that Smith Administrators bought his first exercise bike in February 1985.
That success inspired Featherstone to call a major fitness equipment company. He was told that to be a dealer he had to order four treadmills. Featherstone didn't have that kind of money but finally persuaded the company to make him a dealer, and he sold 12 treadmills the first year.
He talked to a hospital for more than one year about buying fitness equipment, but even though he landed the sale, he was told it would be good if he had a "store front." Still without much capital, Featherstone made a deal with the Olympus Hills Shopping Center for a small space and spent some time repainting. He had three pieces of fitness equipment as inventory, a desk, a telephone, an answering machine and a 30-foot banner outside because he couldn't afford a sign.
Without money for advertising, Featherstone didn't get many customers, so he had his mother sit in the store and he went after customers. Gradually, the business started to grow, and he moved to 6340 S. State, then to larger space at 5496 S. 900 East and four years ago moved to his present location.
Considering his the first specialty fitness equipment store in Utah, Featherstone is proud of the fact that he has never borrowed money, and that included the opening of his new store on 700 East.
Now firmly established, Summit Fitness has customers that include hospitals, sports malls, health clubs, schools, universities, fire stations and corporations, and he also has sold equipment to the Utah Jazz.
In his neat and orderly stores customers can find treadmills selling for between $499 and $7,500; stairclimbers for between $199 and $3,900; ski machines between $299 and $799; and exercise bikes for $499 to $2,000. There also are a number of large fitness machines that can test anyone's physical ability with a variety of weights, handles, cables, pulleys and configurations.
Over in one corner is a good supply of dumbbells, barbells and other weightlifting equipment.
Last August, Featherstone decided to start selling mountain bikes, and his inventory includes some lines that range in price between $199 and $3,000. Accessories include tires, grips, water bottles, car racks and helmets. For those who don't like bikes, Featherstone has a line of in-line roller skates.
Settling in one area hasn't been in Featherstone's background. His father got drafted in 1954 and was stationed at Fort Rucker, Ala., when Featherstone was born. He spent some time in Germany, Kansas, Kentucky, Georgia and Texas. Featherstone considered every move a new adventure when he was young but got tired of the moving when he was a teenager.
Featherstone's father retired from the Army in March 1975 and the family moved to Salt Lake City that June. Featherstone had a scholarship to run track at Utah State University but later left on an LDS Church mission to Germany between April 1976 and March 1978.
When he returned to USU he received a better scholarship and ran the 440-yard relay and the 110-meter high hurdles. Shin splints forced him to the sideline, and he lost his scholarship.
Feathersone transferred to BYU, and even though he worked out with the track team he didn't have a scholarship. After his first season on the track team, he performed well enough to get a scholarship, and during his senior year was co-captain and got to run against plenty of world-class track athletes.
With his degree in business finance and accounting in hand, Featherstone was one of five people asked to give a second interview for the property management company that eventually landed him in Chicago.