When Vic Javeri first evaluated the Pilates equipment his wife Andy purchased for him, he knew he could do something better.
“My dad makes cabinets, and I worked with him all through college…” Jhaveri says. “When I started looking at the pieces that Andy was bringing in, I was blown away and said, ‘There’s no way I’d pay this much for this.'”
Vic now admits that he underestimated the level of craftsmanship required to manufacture Pilates equipment.
“I was so wrong – this equipment is incredibly complicated to make,” says Vic, a craftsman at The Pilates Architects, which creates classically-style, hand-crafted Pilates equipment.
Vic and Andy run their business from a storefront in the Salmon Arm Industrial Park and a home studio in Canoe with their own equipment, where Andy runs and teaches AXIS Pilates classes.
With Andy’s constant mentoring and guidance, Vic began building Reformers and other equipment in a tent in his backyard. Vic said it was a costly process of trial and error, and each product was the result of a combination of woodworking, engineering, physics and support from other Salmon Arm businesses that provided welding, metal fabrication, upholstery and even packaging for shipping.
“Now I can say that our products are better than anyone else’s,” said Vic, who takes pride in his work and calls each piece a work of art. “We didn’t move into our own space (the shop on the industrial park) until our process was firmly established.”
Vic explained that his design was inspired by that of Joseph Pilates, the founder of Pilates. The Reformer, based on a bed-like frame and a movable platform with springs attached within it, is made from steamed beechwood from Europe, which he says is very dense, strong and long-lasting. Other parts, such as the spinal adjustment devices, are made from birch plywood from the Baltic Sea. The metal is aircraft-grade aluminum. The welding is done by nearby Almex Manufacturing, and the upholstery is by New Roots Upholstery.
“It’s nice to find people you’re compatible with,” Andy said of his relationships with other businesses in Salmon Arm. “It’s a necessary relationship, and by them working with you, you can work with your customers.”
One thing that sets Javeri’s equipment apart from traditional Pilates equipment is that it’s designed for multiple uses — the Reformer, for example, can easily transform into a Cadillac table.
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“It’s important to me that any piece of equipment can be converted in under 60 seconds,” Vic says, and he wanted the conversion process to take as little time as possible during a Pilates class.
Additionally, there is a Pilates Architects exclusive creation called the “Chairelle,” which acts as both a ladder barrel and a pedal stability chair.
“There was a lot of research done to see if the Pilates community would actually embrace this, because it’s a little different than everything else,” Vick said, noting that interest in and sales of Chairel have grown significantly since it was first introduced.
“People saw Andy using it on Instagram and stuff and were like, ‘What a great idea,’ but the orders weren’t coming in. The first year, I was like, well, this is a great idea … then one order went from two to 10 and it became really popular.”
Another benefit of Javeris’ multi-purpose equipment is that instructors can have a fully equipped studio in a small space.
The Javeris also take pride in the working relationships they’ve built with customers, including those looking for custom designs, and their ability to produce equipment in a relatively short period of time — Vic says they recently produced 16 units for a $100,000 order from a Vancouver studio.
“We worked with that company on each individual piece to make sure it was our equipment but met the specific needs of their customers,” Vic said, noting that it takes about three weeks on average to assemble one reformer.
Andy’s studio also doubles as a showroom, allowing you to try out pieces before you buy.
“It guarantees there won’t be any issues. Everything is where it needs to be before it ships,” Vick said of custom orders. “There’s no other company with that capability.”
For more information, visit thepilatesarchitects.ca
