The Weekly - May 27, 2020 - 7

FACE TIME

A new virus-killing face mask
uses the same odor-beating
treatment that keeps your
base layers smelling sweet.

Peloton's fitness
subscription business
continues to grow.

SWEAT EQUITY

The home fitness industry is setting PRs during COVID-19.
Last year, cyclists logged 800,000 miles a day on online-training
platform zwift.com. This year, sheltering-in-place cyclists have
clocked over 4 million miles a day. Similarly, online-coaching
platform trainingpeaks.com saw training-plan sales go through
the roof in spring 2020.
In its recent shareholders' letter, Peloton (peloton.com)
claimed a 92% increase in subscription revenue and a 94%
growth in fitness subscribers this year. The company hit 1 million online participants on March 25, and 23,000 members
livestreamed its first Live From Home ride on April 22.
Equipment sales are up too. Rob Sleamaker, CEO of Vermontbased Vasa (vasatrainer.com), manufacturer of indoor swim
trainers, says the company's online traffic "shot up with a curve
that looks like a hockey stick," skyrocketing 500% since March
10. Sales increased 300% before shelter-in-place orders shut
down Vasa's headquarters and factory.
Sleamaker says production is resuming, with backorders to
fill, plus a waiting list "a mile long." The future is uncertain. A resurgence of COVID-19 could shut down manufacturing and retail
again this summer or fall. Athletes and enthusiasts will continue
to amass gear and subscriptions until then, so next time we have
to stay at home for the long haul, we'll be ready. -Berne Broudy

Polygiene, used worldwide for
odor control in outdoor apparel,
just announced a mask-making
partnership with Maloja. Applied
at the finishing stage of production, Polygiene's concentrated
silver chloride-titanium dioxide
treatment, called ViralOff, kills
viruses, including COVID-19, on
any textile except leather, without interfering with your skin's
natural bacterial flora.
Polygiene was founded in 2004
to combat SARS. As that threat
waned, the Polygiene brand was
spun off to fill a market niche for a
branded odor-control technology

by the Swedish chemical company
that started it. Polygiene moved
from killing viruses in hospitals
to helping consumer goods-like
clothing, gloves, and helmet
liners-smell good even with
extended wear.
ViralOff isn't yet an EPAapproved virus-killing treatment,
though it has earned that endorsement in Europe, where it's been
tested against influenza A, H5N1
(bird flu), norovirus, and the
coronavirus linked to SARS-in all
cases killing 99%-plus of viruses
within two hours. Cycling-apparel
manufacturer Maloja adapted its
EU-based production facility to
sew ViralOff-treated face masks
($15 each). Two styles are available
on malojaclothing.com, and in
select retail stores. -B.B.

F R O M TO P : CO U R T E SY P E LOTO N , CO U R T E SY N I K L AS B R O S N A N

MEMORY LANE

Stuck in quarantine? Peruse Utah State University's archive of
classic outdoor industry brand catalogs for a snapshot of the
golden days of the past.
Bored at home or simply curious about the roots of the outdoor
industry? It's time to check out The Outdoor Recreation Archive.
This incredible collection is a collaboration between the Outdoor
Product Design & Development program and the Special Collections team at Utah State University, and houses 2,000-plus
items from over 200 brands. That stuff you once dumped in the
recycling bin is now a valuable resource for students and researchers. The archive began as a way to preserve and protect industry
brand catalogs-the list reads like a litany of outdoor-brand Dead
shows bootlegs, with everything from The North Face 1971 to
Cloudveil 2003 to the rare The Yak Works 1979-but it's growing
to preserve magazines, company correspondence and corporate
documents, product sketches, photos, and more. Best of all, the
archive is now open to the public, both online and in person. All
the catalog covers have been digitized and scanned, and can be
viewed at bit.ly/2zgcG1r or on Instagram @outdoorrecarchive.

Maloja's reusable face
mask is treated with
Polygiene's ViralOff.

OUTDOOR RETAILER SUMMER 2020 / THE WEEKLY 7

https://polygiene.com/ http://www.zwift.com http://www.trainingpeaks.com https://www.onepeloton.com/ http://www.malojaclothing.com http://www.vasatrainer.com https://www.instagram.com/outdoorrecarchive/ http://www.bit.ly/2zgcG1r

The Weekly - May 27, 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Weekly - May 27, 2020