More people in the UK are taking up sport than ever before boosting sales of sporting goods including gymnastic leotards
The Olympics may have resulted in a downtown for general retailers during the games, but not everyone has suffered a downtown in sales as a result of the games. The sporting goods industry has been a big winner. Sales of all kinds of sportswear and equipment have soared, including sales of Gymnastic leotards.
Interest in gymnastics and many other sports rose during and immediately after the Olympics. The Harrow School of Gymnastics has over 150 kids on their waiting list and recently said they feared that they could be “turning an Olympic champion away”. The school is keen to expand, but funding is a problem and the necessary building work will take a long time to complete, so a generation of budding gymnasts are effectively missing out.
The school has been in operation for 33 years, so are used to seeing a surge of interest after an Olympics. However, this is the biggest surge in interest they have ever seen. Staff at the school know that this interest is not a fluke or a flash in the pan. They are frustrated at not being able to take that initial interest and get the kids started. Their experience is that once a child spends an hour or two in their gym they are hooked on the sport. Kids love gymnastics, so for the school it is frustrating having to let this opportunity slip by simply because of a lack of money.
Parents investing in good quality gymnastic leotards
Not only are the children who get involved in gymnastics dedicated, so are their parents. Most parents are extremely supportive of their child’s sporting endeavours. They are prepared to give their time and spend money on good quality training, nutrition and sports equipment for their children.
Specialist sportswear designers and manufactures The White Wardrobe have seen interest in all of their specialist sportswear increase, but sales of gymnastic leotards have risen the most seen the sharpest increase. They make leotards for professional gymnastic teams, but recently a significant percentage of their leotards have been sold to kids just getting started in the sport.