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Built for Athletes Post Record Sales as Growth Continues

Nick and Danny Costello from Built for Athletes

Built for Athletes has posted record sales of more than half a million during the month of November, with the brand experiencing a rise of 139% in sales YOY during Black Friday weekend.

The gym backpack specialists are on track to post sales of £4M for this financial year ending March 2021, a £2M increase on last year’s figures, illustrating the steep growth trajectory the Built for Athletes brand is experiencing.

The brand, built from the frustration of being unable to find a suitable backpack to hold gym equipment supports more than 60,000 fitness fanatics globally and that number continued to grow during the pandemic despite the widespread closure of gyms across most markets.

This growth has given Built for Athletes confidence moving forward when consumer demand is expected to rocket further once gyms reopen.


Built For Athletes was founded in 2018 by Nick Costello, serial entrepreneur and CrossFit enthusiast, who has attributed the growth down to a surge in popularity across both Europe and the US, with the US market now accounting for more than 25% of total sales.

Nick Costello, CEO of Built for Athletes, said: “Black Friday weekend was a huge success for us, a 139% increase in sales YOY is something we’re immensely proud of and is testament to the strength of the brand. Black Friday is our only sale each year. Our loyal customers were aware of this and headed over to the website in huge numbers as soon as the sale went live.

“With restrictions slowly being lifted, it will give thousands of athletes who purchased our backpacks during lockdown the opportunity to road test their new gym companion.

“The fantastic sales means that we’re on track to post sales of £4M for this financial year, not only that but our product design team have some exciting new products to launch including a new duffel, scheduled to be released just before Christmas.”

The Built for Athletes Duffel bag, available to consumers on Tuesday 9 December, is made from tough waterproof fabric, has a 35L capacity and includes features such as a dedicated footwear compartment.

Danny Costello, Marketing Director of Built For Athletes, added: “We continue to invest heavily in technology to improve the customer experience and content creation to resonate with the fitness community and stay relevant. The strength of sales performance for Q4 2020 gives us a great springboard to support even more athletes attain their fitness goals in 2021.”

The original products from Built for Athletes, the Hero Backpack and Hero 2.0 Backpack, are key to the recent success. Trusted by fitness industry experts and elite athletes, the best in class fitness backpack won numerous best buy award titles in respected fitness magazines leading to Built for Athletes expanding their range of products to include associated accessories.

The sales increase and awards are not the only successes the fitness brand has seen this year. Built for Athletes reached agreement to become the official supplier of the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team for the 2020 Formula One Championship and now supply the Hero Backpack to racing drivers Kimi Räikkönen, Antonio Giovinazzi as well as all team personnel as they take on the 2020 championship.