Because business isn’t just about what you know, it’s about who you know.
Mordche Friedman of Better Health Fitness
Mordche Friedman has been in the health and fitness business for a LONG time, since 1977. In a sense, you can say he almost invented the concept in the heimishe community. He installed the first gyms and playgrounds in Jewish schools and yeshivos in the tri-state area.
So, what do jails, schools, and luxury buildings have in common?
“They all need gyms.” Mordche explains, “These days what was a luxury has become a necessity.” Schools need a way for children who are cooped up most of the day in inclement weather to release some energy, and so do prisoners in Rikers Island, as Mordche knows from doing business with the Department of Corrections.
So where does a purveyor of such equipment come to OJBA? It’s simple: Real estate developers, of course! Landlords need to fill rental units- and the amenity that puts a building on the map as being higher-end (with all the positive connotations) is a gym. “It has become a given. No one builds a luxury building without one.”
One of his customers way back, about 40 years ago, was a developer who built a separate building for the gym and pool. A year after the project was completed, Mordche met the developer and asked him how the gym was coming along- he responded “What do I care about the gym? My main intention was to rent 750 units and all have been rented!” That developer showed Mordche a new target market: real estate developers, and is the reason for his coming back to OJBA!
Does coming to the show pay off?
The positive response indicates that exhibiting is well worth the expense.
“In fact, I just took an order today from someone I met at the show!” he says. The results, as they say, speak for themselves!
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