Sit or Stand? Either Way, Companies Pitch Products That Keep You Moving
Several years ago, California-based trampoline maker JumpSport bought standing desks for the entire office.
Nobody used them, according to Marc Freeman, a sales consultant for JumpSport. Standing desks are supposed to be better for your health than sitting. But standing for long periods can cause fatigue and other aches and pains.
The company bought anti-fatigue mats, and “everyone hated them,” Freeman said. So three years ago, the trampoline company invented the Wurf Board, an inflatable pad that resembles a surfboard. The cushion helped persuade more employees to use the standing desk.
The pads allow unconscious micro-movements which is better just simply standing, Freeman said while atop a large wooden rocker board the company recently started selling. Those boards look a lot more like a surf board than the inflatable pad.
For the past three years, Freeman has nestled a booth in among the many desk and chair options at NeoCon, one of the world's biggest commercial design trade shows, held at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart.
Employee health and well-being has emerged as a key objective in designing space. New York architectural firm Gensler’s 2019 Workplace Survey showed that 34% of respondents said it was a key attribute. NeoCon offered plenty of options that may appear in future offices.
Freeman’s booth drew curious onlookers who tried out the boards. Freeman said he usually ends up selling out the samples. The company typically sells the product online and through stores such as Relax the Back. The Wurf Boards sell for $139 and the rocker boards for $133.
Freeman said just as you shouldn’t sit all the time, “You shouldn’t stand all the time.”
Other vendors are looking to reinvent sitting so people are not so sedentary.
Micro movement when seated is much better, said Harrison, as he demonstrated chairs that allow you to wiggle and move. It’s called active sitting and that is supposed to help relieve back pain as well as provide a little exercise.
“Sitting is the new smoking,” said Patrick Harrison, chief executive and founder of Canada-based CoreChair, replaying an oft mentioned phrase about the perils of constant sitting.
Harrison, who had specialized in designing wheelchairs before launching CoreChair, said it took seven and a half years to design the chair he’s showing off in a booth shared with Borgo, a Canadian office furniture maker.
Like Wurf, it sells online and through Relax the Back but also at Office Depot and Staples. Online, the chairs fetch $645 and $895, depending on which you choose.
Two years ago, he had been on "Dragons’ Den," a Canadian show similar to" Shark Tank," pitching the investors. He didn’t get a deal. They said it took too long for him to reach to market and that he was more of an inventor than an entrepreneur.
Harrison said the time it took was worth it. The failed Den episode still spurred sales. “Sales are up 40-to-50% year-to-year,” he said.
