Peloton starts selling bikes at Dick’s, hoping brick-and-mortar will spin its fortunes around

Shifting gears… Peloton is taking a new strategy for a spin: yesterday the home fitness biz said it’ll sell its products at Dick’s Sporting Goods, its first brick-and-mortar partnership. Peloton aims to have its $1.4K Bikes and $3.5K Treads in 100+ Dick’s stores in time for the holidays. It’s in line with Peloton’s strategy to do less by itself:

• Outsource sales: Originally, Peloton only sold products directly to customers. But after sales slumped as gyms reopened, Peloton began selling on Amazon in August.
• Outsource production: In July, Peloton said it would stop making its own hardware to save $$ on pricey US production.
• Cut costs: Peloton cut 800 jobs in August in an effort to slash expenses as its quarterly loss nearly quadrupled to $1.2B
• Weird timing: Despite plunging sales, Peloton unveiled a $3.2K rowing machine this month.

Mirror, mirror (off the wall)… Peloton isn’t the only fit-tech company suffering as pandemic-era home sweat sessions decline: fitness mirror company Tonal laid off a third of its staff in July to ease its losses. Lululemon slashed its annual outlook for Mirror hardware sales in December. And this week Bowflex treadmill-maker Nautilus said it’s considering selling itself.