About Us JumpBoots.com is the Original, Official Kangoo Jumps US Distributor
JumpBoots™ is the original, official Kangoo Jumps® (KJs) USA Distributor. My name is Darren Rieck and I helped bring the KJs to the US from our Venice Beach Boardwalk retail store. At this point I have longer experience with rebound boots than anybody on the planet and sold more boots than any other reseller or distributor over our past 30 years.
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1997 Website Image |
This is the JumpBoots™ story. Founding Spark — What inspired you to become a Kangoo Jumps® distributor? |
| Let's go way back to 1997, where I was performing a modeling show on stage in front of a retail store (Titanic Boutique) overlooking the famous Boardwalk in Venice Beach. One Summer afternoon, a guy named Denis Neville happened into the store and was talking with the owner about a product he developed in Europe and he wanted to bring it to the high-profile Venice Boardwalk with all of the possible exposure...and he chose our store due to all the excitement and crowds we created. |
Live Modeling Show -Titanic in Venice
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After being an athlete all of my life and getting my Bachelors in Health Sciences, I was dealt with (5) herniated discs in my lower back after a car hit me while training on my bike. At that point, I had trouble jogging and doing most other activities due to the back pain during and after engagement.
So after our talks with Mr. Neville, the store owner convinced me to give the boots a try out, just to see how well they worked and what I thought about them. After taking a jog around the block for an hour or so, I returned...and surprisingly after being completely pain free during my test. It was at this point I was convinced I could sell this product and help many others who experienced pain due to joint impact. This was undoubtedly, that "ahha" moment that sparked my motivation to get involved.
Early Challenges — In the early days, what obstacles did you face bringing the business to life?
JumpBoots™ came online in 1998 and I started selling Kangoo Jumps® on my website, which, as a reference was the same time Google was starting out. In fact, my first website to sell the KJs in 1997 was HEALTHandFITNESS.com™ and the boots were up for sale on our site even before the manufacture site was enabled for sales!
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In those days, online commerce was a only a dream for the future more than being an actual daily reality like today. It was at this time that the big-name stores were not even selling with e commerce based websites as it took time for them to ramp up to that level. As a result, the major retailers influenced the media to deter online ordering as being "not safe, not secure" and as much as possible delayed the public from being able to fully embrace it. |
So, as the appointed one to take over the online presence for our traditional walk-in retail store, my work was challenging at best. Both for people to
1) inform them about a completely new type of activity
2) help them feel secure about online ordering and
3) actually be able to find us on the web
Another serious issue was that there was no support from the head office in Europe and there were no programs to inspire networks of trainers or instructors doing promotions and growing their businesses...we were on our own! To add insult to injury, when the official programs did finally roll out, the director of the programs (who initially found out about the KJs through our Venice Boardwalk promotions) had the bright idea that she was going to tout herself as the sole distributor for the US. She actually told those training with her that they couldn't buy from JumpBoots as I was her main sales competition. She was reprimanded for this and she has long since been forgotten, but let's just say the US trainers were not on-board with growing through JumpBoots, only making my task even more difficult.
Start-up Journey — What did the very first version of the business look like, and where was it located?s
I understood that we had a good position...in Venice, we had the first retail store in the world selling KJs and online our website was the first to be ecommerce enabled and it not only looked different, it was very different from today. As business grew, I moved the operation to Redondo Beach, Ca where I was living at the time. Starting with a storage unit, I set-up my office on my yacht to begin distribution. To handle merchant processing for the orders, my shopping cart would capture the order request and the credit card info along with the shipping address. I would then pick up the phone and call the store to process the order through the retail store's merchant account. Not very pretty or seamless, but it worked for years and got us started.
| I would then package the order at the warehouse and take it to the local UPS store...all of which were logistically 5 minutes apart from each other. By the year 2000, I had established a secure e-commerce site, processing online orders at my office and fulfilled the orders at my warehouse where UPS would come by to pick up. By 2020 the Venice store had evolved to a completely different format and the JumpBoots relocated to Ventura, Ca where we have our main office and onsite warehouse today. |
1997 Website Image |
Personalization Impact — How does customization enhance performance or the user experience for instructors?
Every person is unique and all bodies are not the same. Some of us are heavier, some stronger, some more coordinated/athletic and some are compromised by injuries, surgeries or other anomalies. What is different about the KJs when comparing to competing models is that Kangoo Jumps® are extremely customizable. In fact, there are over (20) different manufacture design options for adjusting KJs to best suit the Jumper and their specific needs. No other boot manufacture has this array of choices or capability and this is what sets KJs apart from the crowd. The research and development of the KJs was all about customizing from the beginning.
JumpBoots™ assists instructors to cater their boots for their particular client needs by teaching instructors how to and when to customize. We also offer Pro Kits and partial Pro Kits that allow instructors to purchase boots with the necessary parts for the specific client needs so they are delivered with the correct components. Without being overly complicated, we simply use different manufactures' parts to achieve custom results...just the way the boots were originally designed.
Customization Options — What customization options are available for the boots, and why did you decide to offer them?
There are (3) basic models of Kangoo Jumps®...The Power Shoe™ for kids, XR3™ model for adults and the Pro7™ model for stronger/heavier users. 90% or so of users will be fine with one of these models out of the box as manufactured, but with over (20) different methods to customize we can truly dial in exactly what the user needs or desires. This gives a great deal of control for our boots to perform as the user requests or needs based 6on their specific condition(s). This is key for users who experience changes in their physiology while getting stronger, losing weight, improving cardiovascular conditions and coping with unique injuries or other limitations resulting from past surgeries. Kangoo Jumps® are designed to be able to adjust to your changing needs.
Breakthrough Moment — When did you realize JumpBoots™ had real potential to become a successful business?
After years of the retail sales changing as the store and people involved had their lives evolve as well, I became more interested in becoming the distributor of choice for instructors. As I became more geared for this and ramped up my business, the phone, emails and general requests revolved around groups. Increasingly, conversations went from individuals successfully using the product to change their lives allowing them to jog or exercise again to more and more requests from instructors, gyms, schools and groups wanting to hold classes for the masses. Instead of hearing from clients each month toting our products' ability to get folks exercising, I started hearing from these group leaders changing lives for all of their clients. This was a revelation that the Group Fitness dynamic was truly the way to make the most impact for the masses and it was at this time I realized the business had real potential to be successful.
Growth Vision — How do you see the Jumpboots evolving over the next few years?
JumpBoots™ is a small business that assists and supports other small businesses to be successful with rebounding. These small businesses create small communities that mesh both online experiences with real in-person regular gatherings. People really look forward to these exercise sessions and all the comradery and benefit of surrounding yourself with others in pursuit of similar results. It is common for the classes to have themes for dress/music...and many instructors form stage groups that do live routines to crowds at events...it really is amazing to see this growth and to know I was a part of it!
So these communities and the continued growth is the challenge for instructors to keep participants actively engaged. This is nurtured by offering new and exciting programs or aspects of these programs that are brought in by trainers from all over the world. JumpBoots is committed to assisting this process through ongoing training workshops, master classes and other Jumping Events. These are coordinated on a global level so every instructor and trainer has an opportunity to bring their unique style and experience to the class. It is JumpBoots' job to bring these communities together so that growth can continue and flourish so not only participants win, but Instructors win by having successful classes.
I envision a resurgence of the Jump Festival gatherings as more of these communities unite and collaborate online. My best guess is that the International cooperation will continue to fuel this growth as the instructors become more involved and their businesses become more profitable. I truly encourage anyone interested in getting started to join us at a workshop or event and check out what Rebounding is all about. For those who want to lead groups, there are many opportunities to become trained in developing a successful class...and any US Trainers who want to overcome past shortfalls, now is the time to Jump on in!